Healthy Markets or Health Equity?: Neoliberalism and the Rationing of Health Care in Australia

The Covid-19 pandemic has clearly illustrated the deep inequalities which exist in many wealthy Western societies in relation to health. While public messages have espoused community values and togetherness, the lack of timely access to affordable health care is a significant issue which has affected people from marginalised communities. This chapter traces the privatisation of the health sector in Australia, including health insurance, health care and the shift towards private ownership and management of hospitals, to highlight how access to quality and affordable health care has been rationalised. Through commodifying health care, successive Australian governments have contributed to health inequality, within a deeper experience of economic inequality, housing insecurity, precariousness of work, unemployment and underemployment. These social determinants of health which are directly associated with rising inequalities, highlight the need for systemic, structural change that is underpinned by a health equity approach in Australian policy making.