The health system is different than in America, Australia being a partly socialized system with universal health coverage for all citizens. The public hospital system is well developed and all the teaching hospitals and major centres are public. They are the place to go if you are really sick. The private hospital system is needed to complement the public system. It is a very efficient surgical system.
People can elect to be privately insured for a yearly fee.
In general, things are pretty much the same as far as anaesthesia is concerned. We tend to use generic names for drugs and some drugs available here are not available in Australia, such as etomidate, sufentanil, and IV diltiazem. VMOs work in the private system as well as in the public system, while the staff specialists do not. VMOs are mobile workforces who are able to respond to changes in needs in both the public and private systems as demands change. It is not uncommon for VMOs to work at more than one hospital.