The Australian health care system: a troubled history. Part I.

The operation of Australia's health care system is inherently unstable because of strong ideological differences between the alternative governing parties. There have been several major restructurings of the system over the last 30 years, and probably further substantial changes will occur in the near future. To understand the operations of the existing system, it is helpful to know something of its history. This article catalogs and explains the major developments of the national health system since its inception in the 1950s.