Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese delivering his budget reply speech . Photo : Sam Mooy / Getty Images
Dollars and sense
How the health sector fared in the 2021 budget .
By Conor Burke
After years of debate about how we should go about caring for our elders , now and into the future , the most significant budget for a generation was to be the answer .
Aged care was of course mentioned in the treasurer ’ s budget speech , but the official government response to the royal commission was released quietly on the health department website to no great fanfare .
The wider health sector was a key focus for the government after a year of pandemic-induced strain . The budget saw mental health , rural health and primary health all getting funding boosts .
The government said that an extra $ 1.8 billion will be invested in primary care , including :
• $ 50.7 million to continue to develop an ICT system that will enable a Voluntary Patient Registration Initiative , to be known as MyGP , which will lift the quality of services delivered to Australian patients through continuity of care .
• $ 301.8 million towards the next wave of My Health Record ( MHR ) capitalising on the connections already in place and ensuring a more coordinated healthcare future for Australia .
• $ 1.4 billion in high quality and personcentred mental health treatment , which includes the development of a national network of mental health treatment centres for adults , youth and children through the Head to Health and headspace programs .
• $ 27.8 million to grow the mental health workforce , including nurses , psychologists , allied health practitioners , psychiatrists , Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health workforce , mental health peer workforce , practitioners in aged care , and promoting mental health as a career option within the health workforce . The Government also committed $ 43 billion over four years to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and $ 123 million in the rural health workforce and training .
Public hospitals funding is at $ 135.4 billion over five years according to the budget , up from $ 13.3 billion in 2012 – 13 to $ 25.6 billion in 2021 – 22 and $ 29.9 billion in 2024 – 25 .
WHAT THEY SAID The opposition Opposition leader Anthony Albanese used his budget reply speech to take the Liberal Government to task for rejecting many of the royal commission ’ s recommendations .
“ The Prime Minister must now explain why he has rejected so many of those important recommendations ,” he said .
“ Like the recommendation to require a nurse on duty in nursing homes at all times .
“ Or support for increasing the appallingly low wages of hard-working aged care staff .
“ Or why he ’ s opted for fewer hours of care than the Royal Commission recommended , and delivered them much later .
“ Or why the Government is congratulating itself for funding new homecare places , when it isn ’ t even enough to clear the current waiting list .”
Australian College of Nursing ( ACN ) ACN chief executive , Adjunct Professor Kylie Ward , applauded the government ’ s $ 17.7bn outlay on aged care , in particular the $ 216.7 million investment in nursing scholarships , transition to practice programs and additional support for dementia and palliative care training for the workforce .
“ Supporting more nurses to enter the aged care sector , as well as encouraging those who may not be able to access education to enter the sector by creating scholarships , will help to bolster the workforce ,” she said .
Ward also applauded the government ’ s additional support for survivors of domestic violence .
“ More support to care for the most vulnerable women and children in our community is a welcome support for the nursing profession who often directly support victim-survivors in the community ,” Ward said .
Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association ( AHHA ) AHHA chief executive Alison Verhoeven rates the budget a “ 3 stars out of 5 ” for healthcare investment .
“ The $ 17.7 billion commitment to aged care over five years is about half of the investment recommended as being necessary by the Royal Commission . It will make a difference , but attention will be required to ensure this investment makes a difference to the care of older people , not just to profit margins for private providers ,” she said .
“ Much work is still needed to ensure aged care governance , safety and quality reforms aren ’ t neglected . Funding has been made available to support improved regulation – this work must commence immediately .”
Verhoeven was pleased with the investment in mental health services and rural and regional health , but said that more needs to be done for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health programs .
“ Of the $ 2.3 billion allocated to mental health funding tonight , more than half ($ 1.4 billion ) is notably to develop a network of Commonwealth-funded mental health centres , specialising in diagnosis and treatment of conditions in adults , youth and children .
“ How these centres work together with Commonwealth-funded mental health programs administered by Primary Health Networks is not yet clear . It will be important to ensure that the majority of this large investment is directed at improved services and care for people with mental ill-health , and not just allocated to administration and infrastructure of new organisations .
“ There is only a minor increase in expenditure on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health programs which is disappointing given the significant disparities in health outcomes experienced .”
4 | nursingreview . com . au