A Productivity Commission research paper — based on views offered at a roundtable held with health policy experts in November 2014 — has found that there are significant opportunities to improve the efficiency of Australia's health care system through reforms that can be delivered without changing existing institutional and funding structures, and without delay.

Benefits to patients are clear; and cost savings are equally self-evident.

In the paper, the Commission observes that shared and overlapping responsibilities for health care funding and service delivery often mean that many participants in the health system share responsibility, with the consequence that no one participant has the incentive to pursue reforms. Therefore, in outlining prospective areas for efficiency gains, and acknowledging the rough justice of it, the Commission has proposed a responsible party and provided a roadmap, including timelines.