Oceania

Oceania includes Australia and New Zealand. The World Health Organization includes Oceania in the Western Pacific Region, which includes a total of 37 countries extending from Mongolia in the north to New Zealand in the south. While New Zealand and Australia are considered within this region, healthcare systems in these countries do not reflect the general state of healthcare in the larger region. Indeed, Australia and New Zealand have very moderate levels of healthcare expenditures, and are on par with other G8 nations. They both have reasonably high accessibility to doctors, nurses, and hospital beds.

In terms of life expectancy, Oceania has one of the highest in the world, with New Zealand ranking 26th and Australia ranking 10th in the world. These figures are indicative of the high quality and accessibility of care available in Oceania. Indeed, both countries face few issues in the healthcare sector. For both Australia and New Zealand, equitable healthcare for all ethnic groups is a pressing concern. Aboriginal Australian and New Zealand Māori populations both have lower life expectancies than the rest of the population. This is a failure of these healthcare systems that has been identified as an area of future development in both New Zealand and Australia.