Skip to navigationSkip to contentSkip to footerHelp using this website - Accessibility statement
Advertisement
Analysis

Why measuring public sector productivity is so slippery

When Productivity Commission researchers examined past assessments of the health system’s productivity earlier this year, they were pleasantly surprised.

Tom Burton
Tom BurtonGovernment editor

Subscribe to gift this article

Gift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.

Subscribe now

Already a subscriber?

If traditional productivity measures are believed, Australia’s health system has been a long-time laggard.

Official Australian Bureau of Statistics productivity measures, comparing hospital workers’ hours with outputs (such as the time a patient spends in hospital), suggested that since the 2008 financial crisis, productivity had lifted just a piffling 0.1 per cent a year, up to 2019.

Loading...
Tom Burton has held senior editorial and publishing roles with The Mandarin, The Sydney Morning Herald and as Canberra bureau chief for The Australian Financial Review. He has won three Walkley awards. Connect with Tom on Twitter. Email Tom at tom.burton@afr.com

Subscribe to gift this article

Gift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.

Subscribe now

Already a subscriber?

Read More

Latest In Federal

Fetching latest articles

Most Viewed In Politics