Report on Government Services

The Productivity Commission today released the 2026 Report on Government Services (RoGS).

Aged care assessment times increase

The median time to receive an aged care assessment increased by 22.7% (from 22 to 27 days) in 2024-25, according to data released by the Productivity Commission. The time between assessment approval and service commencement also increased in 2024-25. The median time to sign a service agreement following a successful assessment was 245 days, up from 118 days in 2023-24.

The proportion of residential aged care services that met total care minute targets increased between 2023-24 (34.0%) and 2024-25 (45.9%). Additionally in 2024-25, most services (93.5%) met the 24/7 registered nurse coverage requirement, with a registered nurse on-site and on duty at all times up from 89.3% in 2023-24.

This data is being released as part of the Report on Government Services, which provides data on the equity, effectiveness and efficiency of the services governments provide. This release, covering community services and housing and homelessness services, is the first of four releases for the first half of 2026 (full schedule below).

This is the first RoGS release since the Australian Government introduced a new Aged Care Act in November 2025. The stated goal of the Act is to give older people more control over their care and improve access, quality and safety. Key features include mandated care minutes and higher quality standards. The RoGS includes indicators that measure progress toward these objectives

Child protection

Nationally in 2024-25, total government recurrent expenditure on child protection services was around $11.3 billion, a real increase of 4.1% from 2023-24. The rate of children in out-of-home care at 30 June 2025 ranged from 6.1 per 1,000 children to 13.1 per 1,000 children across available jurisdictions. Most children in out-of-home care (90.4%) were in home-based care (including foster care, relative/kinship care and other care).

Youth justice

Nationally in 2024-25, total government recurrent expenditure on youth justice services was $1.7 billion, a real increase of 8.7% from 2023-24. Detention‑based supervision accounted for the majority of youth justice expenditure (66.2%, or $1.1 billion in 2024-25). Nationally in 2024-25, there were 36 incidents of injury to a young person in custody because of a serious assault, an increase on 2023-24 (20 incidents).

Housing and homelessness

Nationally in 2024-25, total government funding for social housing and specialist homelessness services was around $7.7 billion. There were 432,129 social housing dwellings at 30 June 2025, an increase over the reported time series (410,216 in 2016).

The proportion of households in greatest need who waited more than two years for a new public housing allocation decreased from 25.5% in 2023-24 to 22.8% in 2024-25. The proportion who waited less than three months was 29.0% in 2024-25, similar to 2023-24.

The proportion of clients of specialist homelessness services with unmet need for accommodation was 32.8% in 2024-25, similar to 2023-24. Among clients experiencing homelessness over the same period, the proportion of clients who experienced persistent homelessness increased from 26.3% in 2023-24 to 27.4% in 2024-25. Persistent homelessness is measured as clients who were homeless for more than seven months over the 24-month reporting period. Government funding to provide direct assistance for people who are homelessness or at risk of homelessness has increased (nationally, $1.8 billion in 2024-25 compared to $1.6 billion in 2023-24).

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National prison population and spending increase

The national average daily prison population increased by 5.9% in 2024-25 to reach an eight-year high (45,526), according to data released by the Productivity Commission. Real net operating expenditure on prisons was $5.43 billion in 2024-25, an increase of 4.3% since 2023-24 and 49.3% over the last 10 years.

This data is part of the Report on Government Services, which provides data on the equity, effectiveness and efficiency of the services governments provide. This release, covering justice and emergency management services, is the second of four releases for the first half of 2026 (full schedule below).

Total government expenditure for the justice services in the report was $26.5 billion and $7 billion for fire and emergency services in 2024-25, around 8% of total government expenditure covered in this report.

Rates of re-offending increase

Nationally in 2024-25, the proportion of adults released from prison who returned to prison within two years reached a six-year high of 44.5%. However, rates of crime in most categories covered by the ABS Crime Victimisation Survey have generally fallen over the past ten years.

Police services

Nationally in 2024-25, there were 211 operational sworn staff per 100,000 people in the population, down from 268 per 100,000 in 2015-16.

Police funding has generally increased over this period. Total real recurrent expenditure (including user cost of capital, less revenue from own sources and payroll tax) was $17.9 billion, with an average annual growth rate of 2.0% for the five years to 2024-25.

In 2024-25, the workforce attrition rate for the operational police workforce varied between states and territories, ranging from 4.3% to 8.4%.

Deaths in police custody and from unnatural causes in prisons

The Report on Government Services incorporates the latest data from the Australian Institute of Criminology on deaths in custody. Nationally in 2024-25, 22 people died in police custody, six of whom were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This is lower than 2022-23 when the total number of deaths in police custody was at an 18-year high of 41.

However, 26 people died from unnatural causes in prisons in 2024-25, the highest number in five years, 10 of whom were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Court services

Total recurrent expenditure (excluding payroll tax) by Australian states and territories courts was approximately $2.77 billion in 2024-25, an increase of 26.6% since 2015-16. Both civil and criminal jurisdictions recorded a five-year high number of lodgements in 2024-25 (750,028 criminal and 404,652 civil lodgements).

Fire services

Nationally in 2024-25, fire service organisations’ expenditure was $253 per person in the population. Annual fire service organisations’ expenditure ($6.9 billion) is higher than in 2019-20 (the year of the Australian bushfire season known as the Black Summer).

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Fewer Australians delaying GP visits due to cost

In 2024-25, 7.7% of people who needed to see a GP delayed or did not see one due to cost, according to data published by the Productivity Commission. This is the first improvement since 2020-21, but it remains higher than 10 years ago (4.1% in 2015-16).

This data is being released as part of the Report on Government Services, which provides data on the equity, effectiveness and efficiency of the services governments provide. This release, covering health, is the third of four releases for the first half of 2026 (full schedule below).

Hospital waiting times remain high

Overall, 67% of patients were seen within the clinically recommended times for their triage category. The overall proportion of patients ‘seen on time’ in 2024-25 remains similar to 2023-24, but is lower than in 2015-16 (74%).

Elective surgery waiting times have improved but remain high – 50% of patients were admitted within 45 days in 2024-25 (down from 46 days in 2023-24) and 90% of patients were admitted within 329 days (no change from 2023-24). These waiting times are higher than they were ten years ago (38 days for 50% of patients and 263 days for 90% of patients in 2015-16).

Services for mental health

Nationally in 2024-25, 19.7% of respondents delayed seeing any mental health professional in the last 12 months due to cost, a slight improvement from 2023-24 (20.4%).

The proportion of mental health-related presentations to emergency departments that were seen within clinically recommended waiting times increased slightly between 2022-23 (59.0%) and 2023-24 (60.0%) but remains lower than in 2015-16 (68.0%).

However, mental health services have improved on some measures of quality. In 2023-24, 77.7% of people discharged from an acute inpatient psychiatric unit received follow-up from community mental health services within seven days, up from 67.4%. In 2014-15, the rate of readmission to hospital acute psychiatric units within 28 days of discharge was 13.2%, a steady decrease over the 10-year time series.

Child immunisation rates decline

Across all age groups, the proportions of children fully immunised in 2024-25 were among the lowest over the reported time series. Nationally in 2024-25, the proportion of children fully immunised was: 91.6% for children aged 12 to less than 15 months; 89.8% for children aged 24 to less than 27 months; and 93.3% for children aged 60 to less than 63 months.

Australia is experiencing an increase in whooping cough cases across all states and territories. In 2024-25, there were 792.1 notifications of whooping cough per 100,000 children, the highest since records began in 1991. The current situation may be influenced by several factors including decreasing vaccination coverage, waning immunity, and the overall population having reduced exposure to whooping cough during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Increasing number of serious incidents reported in early childhood education and care

The rate of serious incidents reported in National Quality Framework (NQF) approved early childhood education and care services reached a new high in 2024 (160 serious incidents per 100 NQF approved services), according to data released by the Productivity Commission. This rate has increased steadily since data collection commenced in 2016-17.

In 2024-25, nearly 8% of serious incidents were associated with a confirmed breach (where relevant legislation, regulations or conditions at an NQF approved service were not met), double the 4.1% rate first available in 2019-20.

The majority of ECEC services are approved and regulated under the NQF. As at 30 June 2025, there were 18,018 NQF approved ECEC services nationally – up from 17,705 in 2024.

This data is part of the Report on Government Services, which provides data on the equity, effectiveness and efficiency of the services governments provide. This release, covering child care, education and training, is the fourth of four releases for the first half of 2026 (full schedule below).

Rates of qualifications and experience decreasing in ECEC

‘Staff quality’ in ECEC (which measures the qualifications and experience of staff) has decreased since the previous workforce census in 2021. In 2024, 75.0% of paid contact staff had either formal qualifications at Certificate III or higher, or three or more years relevant experience, down from 82.1% in 2021[3A.27].

School attendance decreasing

Nationally in 2025, the attendance rate for all school students for Years 7–10 was 86.5%, a decrease of 3.9 percentage points since 2018.

Across all schools, attendance rates were higher in lower year levels: 89.5% in Year 7 compared with 84.5% in Year 10. For Years 7–10, attendance rates were higher at nongovernment schools (89.9%) than at government schools (84.0%).

VET outcomes improving

Government-funded VET qualification completions have risen since 2020. In 2024, there were around 354,700 government-funded VET completers aged 15–64 years, an increase of 16.4% from 2020. Completions among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 15–64 years rose by 28%, to 22,400.

Over the past four years, VET student satisfaction has stayed the same whereas employer satisfaction has decreased. Nationally in 2024, 89.5% of students who completed a government-funded VET qualification were satisfied with the overall quality of their training, unchanged compared to 2020 (89.5%). Employers satisfied with all forms of VET engagement was 66.4% in 2023, down from 69.2% in 2019.

In recent years, more VET qualification completers achieved their main reason for training and improved their employment and further study outcomes. In 2024, 86.4% of government-funded VET qualification completers aged 15–⁠64 years achieved their main reason for training, up from 82.2% in 2020. Similarly, 63.3% reported improved employment status in 2024, up from 54.4% in 2020, and 84.8% were employed or pursuing further study after training, compared to 78.8% in 2020.

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