Page 1795 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 4 June 2014
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
The unilateral termination of agreements between the Commonwealth and the states is completely unacceptable … These cuts are firmly and unequivocally rejected … Contrary to what the Prime Minister has said, there are immediate funding impacts.
New South Wales Premier, Mike Baird:
The future expectation was that the Commonwealth would be absorbing about 40% of hospital funding across the country. The budget projections reduce it to 14% … If there are problems that need to be addressed in the longer term, let’s do that collaboratively and constructively. Let’s not bring down a budget that says, ‘by the way, the money’s gone, good luck with that.’
Of course, our Chief Minister has been equally clear about this government’s response. Both publicly and privately she has been fighting for the thousands of Canberrans and people from around our region who depend on the ACT health system. We have heard little from the other side of this chamber. In our budget yesterday the ACT Labor government made our values on health care clear—we have absorbed the hit to our bottom line in 2014-15 so Canberrans do not go without vital health services. And as we move ahead, we need to look further at ways to support our health system through the challenges it is facing.
The ACT Medicare Local is a vital part of this discussion. I call the Assembly’s attention to it today and ask members for a unified position on at least this element of our health system. The establishment of the Medicare Local network was the result of a national agreement, an agreement made by all jurisdictions at the COAG meeting on 13 February 2011. States and territories agreed to further reform of the national health system, committing to new funding and governance arrangements to deliver better patient outcomes and help secure the long-term sustainability of Australia’s health system.
The new national partnership agreement was developed and signed by the parties on 1 July 2011. Under the 2011 agreement, the commonwealth proposed the establishment of local primary healthcare organisations, or Medicare locals, to support health professionals improve delivery of primary health care and provide better access to after-hours primary health care.
The commonwealth government used the then divisions of general practice as platforms from which Medicare locals were established. In 2011 at a special general meeting of the ACT Division of General Practice, a strong majority of 82 per cent of members gave approval for their constitution to be amended to enable the division to transition to the ACT Medicare Local.
The Medicare locals took on the role of the prior divisions of general practice but with an expanded scope that included linking with local hospital networks, the community and healthcare providers such as GPs, allied health professionals and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health services. The ACT Medicare Local was formed in August 2011 and currently has around 1,300 members, including GPs, nurses, allied health professionals, consumer and carer organisations and community organisations as well.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video