Governance of the Health System

We need ‘one health system’, with a national approach to improve quality, efficiency, fairness and outcomes.

National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission Fact Sheet

We need ‘one health system’, with a national approach to improve quality, efficiency, fairness and outcomes.

A Healthy Australia Accord
Medicare Select
A national approach to health care
More information

A Healthy Australia Accord

The Australian Government and states and territories should enter into a Healthy Australia Accord. The new Accord would outline new roles and responsibilities for all governments.

The Australian Government should take full responsibility for funding and policy of primary health care services. This includes services such as community health services, family and child health services, community nursing, allied health, and alcohol and drug treatment services.

The Australian Government and states and territories should move to new funding arrangements for public hospitals. The Australian Government would pay for all outpatient care on an efficient cost basis to a capped limit, and a proportion of the efficient cost of each episode of inpatient and emergency department care. Over time, the Australian Government could increase its share of funding.

The Australian Government should take full responsibility for funding health services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people through the establishment of a new purchasing Authority.

The Australian Government should also take full responsibility for universal access to dental care and full responsibility for public funding of aged care, including the Home and Community Care program and aged care assessment.

Medicare Select

The Australian Government should explore in-depth a new governance model, called Medicare Select, which would build on and expand Medicare through the introduction of health and hospital plans offering greater consumer choice and competition.

In the Medicare Select model, all Australians would automatically belong to a government operated plan. However they could select to move to another plan, which may be operated by a not for profit or private enterprise. An amount of Commonwealth Government funding related to the person’s health risk would be provided to the plan they select. The plans would purchase services to meet the full health care needs of their members in line with their universal Medicare entitlement.

A national approach to health care

Several areas in the health system would benefit from control under a single level of government. This would provide a consistent approach across the country, such as for patient safety and quality, health promotion and prevention, professional registration, workforce planning and education, and e-health.

More information

This is a summary of some of the major recommendations of the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission. Full recommendations can be found in A Healthier Future For All Australians – Final Report of the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission – June 2009