INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE
State of Private Hospitals sector in Australia
Michael Roff CEO Australian Private Hospitals Association
The Australian Private Hospitals Association is the leading industry body that represents the majority of private hospitals in Australia. They provide a diverse range of healthcare services, including general medical surgical hospitals, mental health facilities, and hospitals that provide inpatient rehabilitation. Private hospitals play a crucial role in the Australian health system, comprising about 30% of all hospital beds and provide 40% of admissions and 60% of all surgeries.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Private Hospitals Association (APHA), Michael Roff, has served APHA for the past 30 years, first as Public Affairs Manager in 1994 before being appointed CEO in March 2000.
Recently Mr Roff, advised the APHA Board he will be stepping down in July 2024. Australian Health Journal spoke with him to discuss the recent announcement by the Federal Government to retain the General Use Items, an issue APHA has successfully lobbied to retain over the past few years.
Mr Roff also discusses his broader thoughts on the current state of the private hospital sector in Australia and reflecting on the changes over the past 30 years whilst working at APHA and 24 years as the Chief Executive Officer.
Mr Roff talks about the financial challenges due to long-term underfunding, which has led to many hospitals struggling to meet their usual capital expenditure. This issue has caused some private hospitals to close, which reduces the healthcare options available to Australians. According to Mr Roff, it is essential to address this issue to ensure that Australians continue to have access to high-quality, private healthcare services.
The growth in exclusionary health insurance products is also a problem that needs attention, says Mr Roff. Many Australians cannot adequately self-assess their own risk of needing a particular hospital service, which makes it difficult for them to choose the right health insurance policy. Additionally, health insurance intermediaries, which compare health insurance products and provide recommendations, often work on a commission basis, which may not necessarily provide consumers with the best options available.
“To address these issues, it is necessary to create a balanced system that benefits both private hospitals and private health insurance companies. Private hospitals need to receive adequate funding to continue to provide high-quality healthcare services, and private health insurance companies should provide fair payments to private hospitals for their services.”, says Mr Roff.
During Mr Roff’s working career at APHA he has represented the private hospitals sector to nine different Federal Health Ministers and eight Prime Ministers. He believes the government should take steps to regulate the health insurance industry to protect consumers and ensure that Australians have access to affordable and comprehensive healthcare services.
“I have spent half my life and the majority of my professional life with APHA and it has been an honour to represent a sector committed to providing the highest quality health services to millions of Australians each year”, Mr Roff said.
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Confronting picture of growing women’s health crisis in uterine cancers
Uterine cancers have become Australia’s fastest-growing women’s cancer, with incidence doubling over the past 25 years and projected to continue to surge. Without immediate action, more than 44,000 women are expected to be diagnosed by 2035, and 8,900 will lose their lives to the disease.
Released November 2025, Australia’s first State of the Nation: Uterine Cancers in Australia 2025 report by the Australia New Zealand Gynaecological Oncology Group (ANZGOG), reveals a confronting picture of a growing women’s health crisis that has gone largely unseen and one that now requires immediate, coordinated national action.
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Medical research institutes association responds to draft national research strategy
On 27 August 2025, the Minister for Health, Disability and Ageing announced the release of the draft National Health and Medical Research Strategy (the National Strategy).
Involved in the initial consultation phase, was the Association of Australian Medical Research Institutes (AAMRI), the peak body for medical research institutes across Australia. Member institutes work on a broad spectrum of human health issues such as preventive health, chronic disease, mental health, immunology and Indigenous health. Their research ranges from fundamental biomedical discovery through to clinical research and the translation of research findings.
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HIGHLIGHTS The power of social determinants of health, panel discussion
Clinicians and consumers know only too well that life circumstances such as poor housing, income and food insecurity can have a negative impact on health outcomes. Conversely, participation in community activities, social connection and access to nature parks and leisure facilities can help maintain health and wellbeing.
More recent phenomena in public health have also focused us on the health and social care connection. Stress factors such as the sudden loss of employment and social interaction, moving to remote work or schooling, and the impacts of sudden, localised COVID-19 ‘lockdowns’ to prevent further outbreaks were triggers of increased psychological distress.
And loneliness is being described as our latest epidemic with chronic loneliness inked to a myriad of health problems and earlier death. A recent report found one in four Australians say they feel persistently lonely, and that loneliness costs $2.7 bn a year in health costs alone.
