Health expenditure patterns, and the ratios between Indigenous and non-indigenous expenditure, vary by remoteness and by the type of health expenditure.

For example, Medicare Benefits Schedule expenditure was lower for Indigenous Australians and decreased with remoteness, but the level of disparity actually decreased with remoteness, from a ratio of 0.58 in major cities to 0.77 in remote areas. Disease grouping that includes diseases where kidney dialysis is a treatment, contributed substantially to health expenditure for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in 2006-07, accounting for 10% of total admitted patient expenditure ($112.4 million).