Global Health in the 2026-27 Federal Budget Analysis

Global health in the 2026-27 budget

On Tuesday 12 May 2026, the Treasurer Jim Chalmers handed down the 2026-27 budget. The Budget arrives at a pivotal moment for global development and health cooperation. Around the world, Official Development Assistance (ODA) from OECD DAC is contracting while humanitarian need, climate impacts, conflict and infectious disease threats continue to escalate.

According to OECD preliminary data, official development assistance from DAC donors fell 6.1% in 2024 and a further 23.1% in 2025 — a cumulative decline of close to 30% from the 2023. Health and humanitarian programs have borne a disproportionate share: WHO estimated in 2025 that health aid would fall by almost 40% compared with two years earlier, while DAC humanitarian ODA dropped 35.8% and core contributions to the UN system fell 27%, the largest such drop on record.

Against this backdrop, Australia’s decision to maintain aid levels and sustain its Indo-Pacific focus sends an important signal of regional commitment and stability. However, Australian aid remains historically low relative to national income and total federal expenditure. ODA as a proportion of the Federal Budget has now fallen to approximately 0.63%, the lowest level on record, while ODA/GNI is projected to decline from 0.18% in 2025–26 to 0.16% by 2029–30. Although the Budget includes a nominal increase in aid funding to $5.209 billion, this represents a decline in real terms.

The Australian Global Health Alliance welcomes continued investments in regional partnerships, health security, climate resilience, gender equality and domestic health and medical research. The Budget maintains strong support for the Pacific and Southeast Asia, continued investment in regional health security and ongoing commitments to humanitarian response and climate resilience initiatives.

At the same time, the Alliance is concerned that the Budget does not substantially expand global health financing during a period of rising global instability and aid contraction. Health investments remain increasingly framed through a security and resilience lens, while some multilateral global health mechanisms face reductions or cessation of support. There is also limited transformational investment in broader global health leadership, civil society partnerships and next-generation capability building.