A new report shows that despite the fact that Indigenous Australians receive 2.5 times more health funding than non-Indigenous Australians, they are still six times more likely to suffer from and require hospitalisation for chronic and preventable conditions.

According to the report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) titled "Expenditure on Health for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People 2008-09: An Analysis by Remoteness and Disease," for every $1 spent per non-Indigenous Australian on health care, $1.39 was spent on each Indigenous Australian. This ratio increased significantly according to remoteness; in remote and very remote areas, $2.41 was spent on Indigenous Australians for every $1 spent on non-Indigenous Australians.

Furthermore, while most healthcare expenditures for non-Indigenous Australians were related to cardiovascular disease and unintentional injuries, kidney disease and mental and behavioural disorders were the most costly areas of expenditure among non-Indigenous Australians.

Indigenous Australians were also significantly more likely than their non-Indigenous counterparts to be hospitalised for sexually transmitted diseases, type 2 diabetes, mental and behavioural disorders, alcohol dependence, and vaccine-preventable childhood diseases. 

Alternatively, non-Indigenous Australians received more Medicare and pharmaceutical benefit-scheme subsidies.