NSW Health Minister Warns Hospital Funding Falling Short of Federal Pledge

‘I’m extremely concerned,’ Minister Ryan Park said.

NSW Minister for Health Ryan Park speaks to the media during a press conference in Sydney, Nov. 5, 2025. AAP Image/Bianca De Marchi

NSW Health Minister Ryan Park has expressed serious concern about what he says is a growing shortfall in federal funding for public hospitals.

Park, a Labor Minister in NSW, said the Federal government needed to keep its promise to fund 42.5 percent of public hospital costs by 2030, rising to 45 percent by 2035.

This comes after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese wrote to state and territory leaders, urging them to “reduce growth” in hospital activity.

“For states and territories to realise a Commonwealth contribution of 42.5 percent of public hospital costs by 2030-31, under the capped glide path model, it will be necessary for your government to work to reduce growth in hospital activity and costs to more sustainable levels,” the letter said.

The request comes as Australia’s population continues to accelerate. In the year to March 2025, the national population increased by 423,400 according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Aged-Care Backlog Blocking Hospital Beds

Park also revealed the growing number of patients stuck in NSW hospitals because they cannot access aged-care or disability support, both of which are primarily funded by the federal government.

“I’m extremely concerned. It keeps me up at night, as it should. We’ve got about 1,200 people currently in our state’s hospitals that shouldn’t be there,” he told the ABC.

“They are either aged care or elderly patients that have finished their acute care, but there are no residential aged care beds for them, or they are National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) patients who don’t have the additional supports enabling them to live productive lives at home,” he said.

Park said the equivalent of two large Western Sydney hospitals were essentially taken offline.

“That causes massive issues in terms of bed block. That causes massive issues in terms of delays,” he said.

“It’s simply not fair and not acceptable in a system that’s meant to be jointly funded equally.”

NSW Says Latest Federal Offer Falls Short

NSW Premier Chris Minns reinforced the concern on Nov. 19, saying the state government could not accept what he described as a “massive decline” in the Commonwealth’s latest offer.

“Where we’re at in terms of funding: in 2023, the federal government said we’ll get to 42.5 percent. The latest offer we got from the Commonwealth was 37 percent. It’s a massive, massive decline,” he said.

Park warned that without changes, NSW would fall well short of the 2030 target.

“We need to get back to what the agreement was with the Prime Minister and the Premiers at the end of 2023,” he said.

“Under that deal, there was a commitment to fund 42.5 percent of public hospitals by 2030 ... We are a mile off that at the moment.”

Queensland Also Pressures Canberra

Queensland’s Liberal Health Minister Tim Nicholls also accused the federal government of underperforming in its responsibility to provide aged care facilities.

“The Commonwealth has dropped the ball in its area of responsibility,” he said on Nov. 18.

“With a growing and ageing population, we are seeing more patients stranded in our hospitals because they can’t access timely aged care or disability supports.”

However, Victorian Labor Premier Jacinta Allan told reporters “constructive, detailed work” was underway between federal and state governments to work through future agreements.

“It’s vitally important that we work through this in a careful way,” she said.

Albanese Defends Federal Position

In response to questions about whether Canberra was providing enough money for hospital coverage, Albanese said it was natural for state leaders to push for additional money.

“Premiers want more money,” he said, pointing to the government’s work on urgent clinics and bulk billing.

“If you look at what we’re doing, we’re delivering Urgent Care Clinics that directly take pressure off the public hospital system.

“In addition to that, we put in $8.5 billion of additional funds for the tripling of the bulk billing incentive.”

The Prime Minister also stressed that the federal government’s role in primary health care, and said negotiations with the states would continue.

“What we’re doing is working through those issues with the states and territories. We'll work them through constructively, and that is the way that we engage,” he said.