Health care is universal in Australia, but this doesn’t mean seeing a doctor is always free.
- Associate Professor in Health Policy, Leeder Centre for Health Policy, Economics and Data & Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney
Medicare has been mentioned a lot this election campaign. But what have the major parties actually promised? Five experts grade their policies.
Scott Morrison’s new ministry includes a few new faces and several new roles for familiar cabinet members. Our experts take a closer look at each portfolio.
Medicare is a vote-changer. The Coalition learnt this in the 2016 federal election campaign and has since guaranteed its commitment to the program. But that may not avert a Mediscare 2.0.
My Health Record is a step towards empowering patients with greater knowledge about their health – and could help save lives in emergencies.
Sussan Ley launched a series of major reviews of health spending programs. The proposals from these reviews are now on the table, and Greg Hunt will have a series of difficult tasks in implementation.
What’s in store for key policy areas, from health to education to infrastructure to asylum seekers, under a returned Coalition government?
Scare campaigns only work if there is some anxiety to build on. Labor’s Medicare campaign plugged into a long history of Coalition ambivalence – or open hostility – towards Medicare.
This is a steady-as-she goes budget, mostly just confirming pre-announcements with only the expected unpleasant decisions, such as the continuation of the Medicare rebate freeze.
We need to focus on keeping people out of hospital by providing better co-ordinated and integrated care.
We asked our experts to appraise the political and policy performances of the federal cabinet and shadow cabinet.
After the controversy surrounding the GP co-payment last year, delivering a boring or “small-target” budget this time around was clearly deliberate. But we shouldn’t gloss over it too quickly.
In the government’s latest “scraping away the barnacles” of unpopular and blocked policies, prime minister Tony Abbott and health minister Peter Dutton have announced they’re abandoning the plan to have…
Restrictions on retail trading hours, taxis, pharmacies and parallel imports should be lifted according to a far-reaching draft report by the Competition Policy Review. Professor Ian Harper’s new report…
The Coalition entered the 2013 federal election without a health policy. After a year in government, it remains without one. While there has been activity in the health arena, there’s been little coherent…
The former Labor government’s GP Super Clinics Program has come in for a bashing. The Coalition has derided it as “a total waste of money” and News Corp has dubbed it a “dangerous health care experiment…
Incremental creep and massive holes in universal health coverage (think dental care) have left many Australians questioning whether there’s any such thing as “free health care”. One recent study estimated…
SECURING AUSTRALIA’S FUTURE: As the Commission of Audit reviews government activity and spending, The Conversation’s experts take a closer look at key policy areas tied to this funding – what’s working…
The Coalition revealed little of the new government’s health agenda during the election campaign, but Tony Abbott was minister for health and ageing in the Howard government from October 2003 until the…
“The bulk-billing rates are at historic highs now. Visits to GPs are 82% bulk-billed. When Tony Abbott was minister it was 67%.” Health minister Tanya Plibersek, National Press Club Health Debate, 27 August…
The Coalition’s Policy to Support Australia’s Health System is a cautious document, despite shadow health minister Peter Dutton’s promise of a “cracker of a health policy”. Tony Abbott set the scene at…
Welcome to the The Conversation’s Election 2013 State of the Nation essays. These articles by leading experts in their field provide an in-depth look at the key policy challenges affecting Australia as…
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has named his new cabinet, which features a few familiar names and several others that will be unknown to many Australians. Here are some expert reactions to the new ministry…
While the federal election is still months away, issues of health funding are already dominating the news. A Grattan Institute report released yesterday, for instance, noted the greatest budgetary pressure…
More than half of the Australian population believe they’re in very good to excellent health, have a high level of confidence in the health system and support the policy direction that the federal government’s…
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