Preventative Health Taskforce – January 2009
On 9 April 2008, the Hon. Nicola Roxon MP, Minister for Health and Ageing, announced the establishment of the Preventative Health Taskforce.
The Taskforce, which reports directly to the Minister for Health and Ageing, is responsible for providing evidence-based advice to governments and health providers on preventative health programs and strategies, focusing on the burden of chronic disease currently caused by obesity, tobacco and the excessive consumption of alcohol
The Taskforce’s key deliverables for 2008-2009 will be to provide the Government with advice on the framework for the Preventative Health Partnerships between the Commonwealth, State and Territory Governments and to develop a National Preventative Health Strategy.
The Taskforce released a discussion paper in October 2008, Australia: the healthiest country by 2020 that is the first step in developing the National Preventative Health Strategy. The Taskforce has called for submissions on this discussion paper, which were due by Friday 2 January 2009. NICM prepared a submission on the role complementary medicine can play in the prevention and management of obesity.
Preventative Health Taskforce is at http://www.preventativehealth.org.au/
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 NICM Submission to Preventative Health Taskforce 178.71 Kb
Practitioner Regulation Review – September 2008
In 2006, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agreed to a significant national health workforce reform package to enable the health workforce to better respond to the evolving care needs of the Australian community, while maintaining the quality and safety of health services. In particular, the process is designed to promote appropriate and nationally consistent standards of clinical practice and education.
Under the authority of COAG, the Australian Health Ministers’ Advisory Council (AHMAC) has initiated a process of review of all major Australian health professions in order to achieve regulatory consistency across States and Territories and to determine the need for national regulation for partially regulated or currently unregulated health professions. AHMAC has previously established six key criteria for the process (Assessing the Need for Statutory Regulation of Unregulated Health Occupations).
COAG agreed that the nine health occupations that currently have statutory registration requirements in each state and territory will be the first to be included in the national registration and accreditation scheme for the health professions. State and Territory Health Ministers are considering other partially regulated health occupations for inclusion in the scheme. At this point only Chinse medicine practitioners fit this category.
NICM’s position is to support statutory regulation of any complementary medicine profession where that profession clearly meets the established AHMAC criteria.
NICM provided a submission to the Australian Health Ministers’ Advisory Council regarding the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme for Health Professional (Partially Regulated Professions) in the area of Chinese Medicine Practitioners.
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NICM’s Submission to the Australian Health Ministers’ Advisory Council regarding the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme for Health Professionals (Partially Regulated Professions)
NICM’s Submission to the Australian Health Ministers’ Advisory Council 138.98 Kb
Health and Hospitals Reform Commission - June 2008
On 25 February 2008, the Prime Minister and the Minister for Health and Ageing announced the establishment of the Health and Hospital Reform Commission.
The Commission is responsible for developing a long-term health reform plan for the Commonwealth Government. An interim report is to be delivered by the end of 2008, with a final report and plan due in mid 2009.
The establishment of the Commission was a pre-election commitment under the August 2007 policy New Directions for Australian Health and follows the June 2007 policy paper Fresh Ideas, Future Economy: Preventative health care and our future economy.
The Terms of Reference state that the Commission’s long-term health reform plan will maintain the principles of universality of Medicare and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and public hospital care.
In April 2008, the Commission called for submissions from the public, frontline health workers, professional and consumer groups, and other interested people and organisations to help inform its plan. The Commission has also developed a set of principles to underpin the future health system which it invited comment on.
The establishment of the Commission by the Federal Government provides a significant opportunity to present the strengths of evidence based complementary medicine and the growing capacity of the complementary medicine research sector to help address Australia’s health care challenges. NICM made a brief submission to the review, outlining the focus of its works and emphasising the potential of complementary medicine to address the burden of disease, particularly chronic disease.
The Commission website can be found at www.nhhrc.org.au
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NICM's submission to the Health and Hospitals Reform Commission 162.15 Kb
Review the Commission's interim report released in January 2009
NHHRC Interim Report 3.78 Mb
Content Updated January 2009
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