Pay

Best-practice financial administration of the National Health Funding Pool

The National Health Funding Pool (the Pool) was established to receive all Commonwealth (ABF and Block) and State and Territory (ABF only) public hospital funding.

The Pool comprises a Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) account for each State and Territory, with each State and Territory also having established a State Managed Fund (SMF) to manage Block funding. The Pool and SMF provide a line of sight mechanism to trace each jurisdiction’s contribution to LHNs and third parties. The balance is paid to States and Territories (including public health and cross-border).

NHR funding occurs when the Commonwealth or States and Territories pay into a State Pool account or SMF. NHR payments occur when the funding is paid out of the State Pool account by the Administrator or is paid out of the SMF by the State or Territory. The below figure highlights the source, types and amount of funding and payments that flowed through the Pool and SMFs in 2025–26.