Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 7 Hansard (18 June) . . Page.. 1832 ..

MRS CARNELL (continuing):

Mr Speaker, I am pleased to announce that the heads of government agreed to broad directions for reform of health and community services and an approach to implementation. A paper setting out details of this approach and recommending directions for future action was endorsed by the council. It was agreed that there is an urgent need to shift the focus of health and community services programs to people through a partnership between the Commonwealth and the States. A new system will need to be built which retains the benefit of universal access to basic health services through Medicare and provides quality care responsive to people's needs; preventive health initiatives; cost-effective care with better value for taxpayers' dollars; and more clearly defined Commonwealth, State and Territory roles and responsibilities.

Key elements agreed by the council include working towards arrangements which place all health and related community services under the umbrella of a single multilateral agreement, with bilateral agreements covering funding and outcome measures for all relevant services. These arrangements will be developed on the basis that they provide improved outcomes for people, do not place government outlays in jeopardy and are consistent with Medicare principles. Consolidation and rationalisation of a number of existing arrangements, including consideration of the transfer of responsibility for managing aged care programs to the States and Territories, was agreed.

A range of options to consolidate specific purpose payments will be considered. They include combining specific purpose payments in either the Medicare agreements or bilateral agreements - for example, public health - with arrangements to specify access and measures of output and outcome; and conversion of current specific purpose payments into "broadband" grants, with bilateral agreements defining broad objectives and specifying access, outputs and outcomes for functional areas. While the reform agenda deals with government-funded health and community services, work will also be undertaken on the ongoing role of private sector funding, which currently accounts for one-third of all health expenditure. Mr Speaker, I would also like to assure members that appropriate consultation with consumers and the industry will take place before any final decisions are taken by the council. As Health Minister, I welcome these reforms and have been involved in negotiations at the Health Ministers forum on all of them.

Mr Speaker, in relation to treaties, the council agreed to the establishment of a Treaties Council which will comprise the Prime Minister, as chair, and all the Premiers and Chief Ministers. The Treaties Council will have an advisory function and will consider treaties of particular interest to States and Territories. It is planned that the Treaties Council will meet as an adjunct to COAG, and its first meeting will take place in conjunction with the COAG meeting planned for later this year. I am confident that the Treaties Council will improve the consultation process between the Commonwealth and the States and Territories and will provide the States and Territories with a real voice in treaty negotiations in the future.

The council also noted a progress report from the Gas Reform Task Force. Mr Speaker, there has been considerable progress towards meeting the commitments for gas reform set at COAG's February 1994 meeting and, while there are still some outstanding issues, the reforms are progressing well. Substantial progress has been made towards agreement of a uniform national access framework, and a timetable for finalisation of the framework was agreed at the meeting. Agreement has also been reached on some of the main access

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .