Health

ALP

Summary

Dedicating more than $7b over 5 years and $15b over 10 years, the ALP have made unprecedented
reforms in the health system, with intensive focus on primary care and the opportunity for all
Australians to consult a GP more easily. Waiting times for surgery and broader health services will be
reduced and new national standards of health service will have to be complied with. Preventative
health care will continue in mental health, obesity, diabetes and binge drinking. A modern cancer
care system is being developed to extend to regional Australia. The Indigenous mortality rate is
specifically being targeted.

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The ALP has affected the largest reformation in the Australian health system since the introduction
of Medicare in 1975. Focusing on strengthening primary health care, the ALP have dedicated $7.3b
over 5 years and have made it easier to receive services from a General Practitioner, have made
more hospital beds available, and have ensured that more qualified medical professionals are
available. All Australians regardless of their location or income will receive quality health care.

The new health system will be funded federally but administered by the States. The Federal
government will fund 60% of the expense while at the same time retaining 30% of the GST collected
by the states (all of which with the exception of WA have agreed). GP and other primary care
services will be exclusively funded by the Commonwealth along with aged care health services.
Additionally, the ALP is determined to ensure the sustainability of this health scheme and will
provide another $15.6b from its own coffers directly toward public hospitals over the next 10 years.

Primary health care relies heavily on our GP’s and so the ALP has instituted an afterhours GP service
with a 24 hour hotline and follow up visits. They endeavour to upgrade 425 GP practices to allow for
more capacity in each, and are providing more support for nurses in primary care facilities such as
these. More incentives are being provided for GP’s to operate in rural Australia.

1300 new sub-acute hospital beds and 2500 aged care beds are being made available. Emergency
waiting times are being capped at 4 hours. 95% of patients will now receive elective surgery in the
time frame recommended by their physician. The intake of GP’s in universities will be doubled and
6000 more doctors of varying disciplines will be trained. From now on, if a patient requests it, they
will receive a personal electronic health record. While an annual Hospital Performance Report will
rate every Local Hospital Network and every Private Hospital against new national standards, local
medical professionals will now have more opportunity to participate in the manner in which their
services are delivered.

The ALP has also invested in preventative health services. Continuing campaigns against smoking will
be taken, and extensive investment in mental health services will be made to ensure that 20 000
more young people receive mental health services including direct suicide prevention intervention.
Young people will be assisted in developing resilience to endure and prevent suicide later in life.
More mental health services will be provided for men who statistically, are unlikely to seek help.
Obesity and diabetes will be addressed as significant health issues challenging Australia.

During the past 3 years the ALP have increased funding for hospital by 50%, 125 hospitals have
received new elective surgery equipment, $1.5b is being spent on 35 emergency departments to
increase capacity and provide for the cap of 4 hours waiting time. A total of 31 GP Super Clinics with
medical specialists from a variety of disciplines in one location will be built. $2b is being invested to
build a state of the art cancer care system and regional cancer care centres throughout Australia.
$1.6b has been invested in Indigenous health to reduce within two generations, the difference in life
expectancy of Indigenous Australians to that of others. The ALP has delivered 850 000 dental
checkups for teenagers under the Medicare Teen Dental Plan. Over the past 3 years aged care places
have been increased by 10 000 under the ALP. Alcopop sales were targeted to prevent binge
drinking and a tax was exacted to fund a $103m binge drinking campaign. Alcopop sales have fallen
by 30%.
Health

Greens

Summary

The Greens health policy is one that supports the financially and socially marginalized; low income
earners, Indigenous Australians and women seeking terminations. Typically, the Greens advocate
support of the public health system as opposed to investing in the private health system in which
low income earners cannot participate. They advocate intense investment in primary healthcare
and preventative healthcare, and specifically, mental healthcare.

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Quality health care is a basic human right to the Greens, and they believe that governments are
responsible for providing all people with access to resources in order to maintain their health. To
accomplish this successfully a skilled workforce must be maintained through increased quality and
quantity of education & training in numerous disciplines. To ensure equity and efficiency in the
expending of resources, a public universal health system that places the interest of patients ahead of
all else, must be adopted. To avoid unnecessary waste of these resources, primary health care must
be applied together with preventative health care; health promotion, disease prevention and early
intervention will ease pressure on hospitals. The Greens are adamant that Australia needs to
prepare for changing disease patterns as a consequence of climate change, now not later, and this
includes formulating responses to pandemics.

The Greens envisage our universal health care system to extend to fund more research and to cover
primary dental care. In particular, the Greens want low income earners to benefit from a funded
dental program that provides essential dental care and an examination every two years. They are
focused on providing better quality primary health care in Australia, including to this end, more
access to General Practitioners by increasing intake numbers at universities, and a reinforcing of
preventative health and acute in patient care. Most fervently, through culturally appropriate and
community controlled programs, the Greens want to see Indigenous people with the health and life
expectancy of other Australians. They want additional funding for 24 hour community mental health
services that are staffed by a full range of mental health professionals, funding for mental health
educational services, and early detection and prevention of mental health with community based
support. Specifically the Greens want to implement assessment and suicide prevention services.

In particular, the Greens support the Medicare system that is funded through progressive taxation.
Additionally they advocate that the private health insurance health rebate be terminated and these
funds targeted toward public health services. They want more incentives for specialists to bulk bill,
and increased primary health care services in rural Australia with incentives for medical
professionals to relocate to remote areas. The Greens want legislation to protect and expand the
Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, and to ensure that regulatory bodies are populated with members
that are independent from undue influence. Legislation in particular must ensure that those
chronically ill are able to benefit from the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme when they return to the
work force in low paid occupations.
Practical measures the Greens want instituted include legislation to promote healthy choices and a
ban on junk food advertising on children’s television, restrictions imposed on pharmaceutical
advertising and also that to prevent health professionals being lobbied by pharmaceutical
corporations.

The Greens support abortion and want all women to have free, legal and safe procedures including
unbiased counselling. By the same token, the Greens want to ensure women have access to a range
of birthing services.

The Greens want a better standard of food labelling in respect of its origin, contents and nutritional
value.
Health

LNP This will be amended in 2 hours

Summary

The Coalition are advocates of the Private Health Insurance scheme that provides a 30% rebate for
almost half of Australia’s population who maintain private health insurance, and within which the
taxpayer has invested substantially in the past. By supporting the private system the public health
system will be able to deliver better quality health care services due to less pressure being applied
upon it. The Coalition will invest $27m in the public health system by increasing human resources
and incentives to relocate and practice in regional and rural areas. Mental health will be heavily
invested in within the proven success of the Headspace program; brainchild of Prof Patrick McGorry.

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The Coalition recognise the disparity in health service delivery in rural Australia to that enjoyed in
metropolitan areas, and see a shortage of human resources as being the root cause. Accordingly,
they will dedicate $27m and double the number of rural scholarships that provide incentives for
medical staff to relocate away from the city. They will increase university places for rural nurses and
fund 100 more places, while also paying an annual $10 000 bonus to nurses practicing in remote
areas. Additionally, 20 scholarships will be offered to rural dentists. They will also introduce local
participation and regulation into our hospitals, with local hospital boards that are populated by local
experts

The Coalition will spend $1.5b on mental health. They will provide 800 additional acute and sub-
acute care mental health beds. They will provide 20 new psychosis intervention centres and another
60 youth mental health centres under Professor Patrick McGorry’s successful Headspace program.
The Coalition will squarely address the issue of homelessness, as in their view it forms an intrinsic
part of mental illness.

The Coalition intend on protecting the private health system and investing in and improving the
public health system. They will not support means testing of the private health insurance scheme. In
this fashion, the strain will be taken off the public health system and reduce waiting times. An
improvement to the Australian health system is only possible if we support private health. Having
introduced the 30% Private Health Insurance Rebate in 2000 when in government, they intend to
protect it at all costs. When introduced in 2000, the number of Australians with private health
insurance escalated almost immediately from 6 million to almost 9 million. Today, almost 10 million
Australians have private health insurance. Additionally, the Coalition provided almost $2b of extra
funding to the private health insurance scheme. .