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Robotics in healthcare: global market trends and forecasts to 2030

The global market for medical robotics is expanding as hospitals face staff shortages, rising costs, and demand for less invasive care. Surgical platforms, automated pharmacy systems, and rehabilitation exoskeletons are moving from research into routine workflows, supported by better imaging and connectivity.

Grand View Report has tracked this trajectory across multiple industry verticals and found that healthcare leads in adoption once funding models align with patient outcomes. Forecasts point to double-digit compound growth well into the next decade, driven by aging populations, clinician burnout, and falling automation costs.

In Australia, the new Royal Adelaide Hospital runs automated guided vehicles for meals and linen, while researchers in Melbourne's Parkville precinct are piloting rehabilitation robots for stroke survivors. With vast distances between regional towns and metro hospitals, telepresence is being workshopped by state health authorities from Perth to Brisbane.

Surgical systems moving from premium to standard

Surgical platforms remain the market flagship, led by systems such as the da Vinci and a growing wave of Asian and European competitors. In Australia, uptake is concentrated in private hospital groups on the east coast, where shorter patient stays justify the capital outlay.

Public hospitals have moved more slowly, partly because the Therapeutic Goods Administration classifies these as high-risk and partly because procurement cycles stretch across budget years. Newer modular platforms are entering at lower price points, and subscription-based procurement is starting to appear.

Rehabilitation, exoskeletons and aged care

Rehabilitation robotics is the segment most shaped by Australian policy. The National Disability Insurance Scheme funds many assistive devices, including exoskeletons and gait trainers, opening a route to market that few other countries offer.

Aged care providers across Sydney, Melbourne, and the Gold Coast are trialling robotic companions and mobility aids. Stroke rehabilitation is the standout use case, with robotic systems delivering the high-repetition therapy that human therapists alone cannot match.

Pharmacy automation and hospital logistics

Behind the scenes, the most visible deployment in many Australian hospitals is in pharmacy and logistics. Automated dispensing cabinets and robotic pick-and-pack systems reduce medication errors and free pharmacists for clinical work.

Many of these projects are bundled with infrastructure upgrades, with parallels to the regional construction opportunities analysed in other markets where ceiling tracks, lifts, and clean rooms must be retrofitted. The challenge for Australian procurement teams is the heterogeneity of public hospital campuses, many on heritage sites.

Artificial intelligence and the smart operating room

The next wave of value is software. Computer vision recognises tissue planes in real time, while machine learning models suggest instrument trajectories. Operating rooms from Westmead to Fiona Stanley Hospital are pulling imaging, pathology, and live vitals into a single console.

For vendors planning to enter or expand, broader regional expansion insights from cross-border consultancies can help navigate licensing and data residency. Australian buyers favour vendors with local support and clear TGA conformity pathways.

Funding, reimbursement, and procurement

Money shapes adoption more than any other factor. In Australia, Medicare rebates, private health insurance schedules, and state capital budgets create a layered funding environment that suppliers must understand.

Procurement is typically handled at the state level, so a successful pilot in one jurisdiction does not automatically translate to another. Vendors should study startup market entry strategies in other regulated sectors, since the playbook around certification and evidence is broadly similar. Reimbursement remains the slowest piece, and until item numbers align, the case will rest on throughput and length-of-stay gains.

Regional forecasts and growth hotspots

Forecasts across robotics in healthcare show consistently strong growth, but the picture varies sharply by region and application.

Segment	Leading Region	Australia Position	Forecast 2025-2030 CAGR
Surgical robotics	North America	Mid-tier, public-private split	11-14%
Rehabilitation & exoskeletons	Asia-Pacific	Strong, NDIS-supported	13-16%
Pharmacy & logistics automation	Europe	Catching up, retrofit-heavy	9-12%
Service & social robots	Japan, South Korea	Early pilot stage	15-18%
Diagnostics & lab automation	North America	Steady, pathology-led	10-13%

Asia-Pacific is expected to overtake North America in unit volume by the early 2030s, though North America keeps the highest revenue per installation. Australia's strongest position is in rehabilitation, where policy and demographics align, and weakest in service robotics, where acceptance still lags.

Workforce skills and workplace culture

Robots do not replace clinicians; they re-skill them. Surgical teams need dry-lab time, physiotherapists need training, and biomedical engineers are in short supply to maintain complex fleets. The Royal Flying Doctor Service is also discussing how telepresence robotics could support clinicians in remote clinics across the Top End.

Australian workplace culture values teamwork and a fair go, so adoption is smoother when systems are framed as supporting clinical judgement rather than replacing it, with senior surgeons paired with registrars on console.

Strategic priorities for the next 12 to 24 months

Organisations planning a robotics investment should focus on these points:

Map the funding pathway early, including Medicare item numbers, insurer schedules, and state grants.
Pilot in a service line with clear measurable outcomes, such as colorectal surgery or stroke rehabilitation.
Plan infrastructure alongside procurement, since ceiling heights, power, and network capacity often gate deployment.
Build a multi-year training plan covering surgeons, nurses, biomedical engineers, and sterile processing teams.
Negotiate service contracts with defined uptime and consumables pricing rather than a single capital outlay.
Track post-market data and adverse events to support future TGA submissions and network-wide purchasing.

The core takeaway is that successful robotics adoption rests as much on funding pathways, training, and procurement design as on the technology. Hospitals pairing investment with workflow redesign and a realistic funding plan will be best placed to capture value through the rest of the decade.

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