However, the picture is not that simple. The health workforce market in Australia is influenced by
a wide range of factors; on the demand side by increasing levels of income and wealth, emergence
of new technologies, changing disease profiles, changing public health priorities and a focus on the
prevention of chronic disease. While a strong correlation is observed between age and use of
health care services (and thus health care workforce), this is mediated through illness, as typified
by the consistent finding of higher health care costs in the months preceding death.