It's time to talk health funding

Growing numbers of us are turning up to hospital emergency departments due to unmet health needs.

An Association of Salaried Medical Specialists report has found the number of patients presenting with immediate or potentially life-threatening conditions has risen from half - to two-thirds.

Policy and research director Harriet Wild says we fund our health system at a lower rate than many of the countries we compare ourselves to.

She says we need to have a national conversation about how we fund our health system, and what we expect to provide for our growing and aging population.