Which country has better welfare, Canada or Australia?

[v0031]

Which country has better  welfare, Canada or Australia? I have heard something in western or Northern European countries  is free,such as  mdeical care and education.

[Robespierre's Jaw]

Well, considering our health system is heading up sh**t creek, Mr. Flynn is going with Canada.

[Verily]

"Better"? Probably Canada, if you mean more extensive programs, although I couldn't cite exact dollar figures, etc. As far as the effectiveness of such programs, I don't know.

Medical care is free in most western countries (the US being the major exception, plus some minor ones), and education is free in all western countries AFAIK (although I'm not familiar with the educational system of many European countries).

[Hatman 🍁]

From what I gather, Australia is much like a "mini-USA", so I'm going to have to go with Canada which in terms of welfare is between the US and Europe.

[Smid]

We have a better balance compared to Canada (I'm aussie, fiancee is Canadian).

In Canada, it is private health care is unconstitutional. My fiancee knew of a case where someone needed an MRI done urgently and would have to wait 18 months to get it done in Canada and ended up having to go to the US to get it done. Likewise, the Canadian former PM, Paul Martin, went to the US for medical treatment.

In Australia, the public health system isn't great. There are long waiting lists and bed shortages, but these would be longer if we didn't have a private system as well. We provide a 30% tax rebate on medical insurance, to make it easier to afford for people who are not rich, while at the same time maintaining universal coverage for people who can't afford private. I think it's important to strike a balance. Public only bogs the system down and leads to longer waiting lists, private only means people who can't afford it miss out. The public only system in Canada is as ideological as the private only system in the US, and one-eyed ideology never works outside of thought experiments. Give me a combined system any day.

[Hatman 🍁]

Private health care is not unconstitutional. Quite the opposite, actually. However, it goes against the Canadian Health Act, which is in no way a constitutional document.