Table 2

Governance of public health care agencies in Australian states/territories

State
Current Status
Recent changes

NSW 6.64M
Centralising by 1 January 2005; regionalised since 1986.
Moving from 17 Area Health Services with separate governance authority to 8 Area Health Services within Departmental governance.
Victoria 4.87M
Rurals partly regionalised for many years; Melbourne 'networked' since 1995.
Melbourne networks restructured from 7 to 12 and names changed in 2000. Rural structures mix of regionalised and atomised.
Q'land 3.71M
Centralised at state level since 1996 after 5 years of regionalisation.
Long history of centralisation with advisory hospital boards; Regional Health Authorities 1991–1996.
WA 1.93M
Centralised at state level in 2001/02.
Moved from 'atomised' in Perth to one board in 1997, governance centralised in 2001; state now centralised.
SA 1.52M
Regionalised in rural areas since 1995; Adelaide partly regionalising.
Moved from atomised to regionalised, with 2 regional and 1 specialised health services in the capital as of July 2004.
Tasmania 0.47M
Centralised at state level
Moved from atomised to regionalised in 1991; centralised at state level in 1997.
ACT 0.32M
Centralised (single city system)
Single board for Canberra established in 1996; abolished in 2002.
NT 0.2M
Centralised at territory Level
Never devolved. Some autonomous Aboriginal Health Services.

Dwyer Australia and New Zealand Health Policy 2004 1:6   doi:10.1186/1743-8462-1-6