Medical support from AUSMAT for bushfire evacuees

The Australian Government has, for the first time, deployed Australian Medical Assistance Team (AUSMAT) specialists in a domestic setting to provide medical support to people evacuated from bushfire-affected communities.   The eight specialists – two doctors, two nurses, two paramedics and two logisticians – have been deployed to RAAF Base East Sale in Victoria to…

Earlier Access to cheaper medicines for 1.6 million Australians

The Morrison Government has delivered on its election commitment, significantly lowering the threshold for the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) Safety Net from 1 January 2020.   This means from today, more than 1.6 million concessional and general patients will get earlier access each year to free or significantly cheaper PBS medicines.   The PBS Safety…

New website to improve consumer understanding of medical costs

The Morrison Government has taken action to reduce the effects of ‘bill shock’ from unexpected out-of-pocket medical expenses.   A new Medical Costs Transparency website will – for the first time – show Australian patients typical out-of-pocket costs for common treatments and procedures in the private system.   Australian patients will be able to search…

$13.5 million for new research to improve Indigenous health

Up to $13.5 million in health and medical research grants over three years is available for Indigenous-led projects to drive improvements in outcomes for four key health challenges.   The grants are part of the Morrison Government’s $160 million, 10-year investment in the Indigenous Health Research Fund from the $20 billion Medical Research Future Fund.…

The lowest private health insurance premium change in 19 years

The Morrison Government’s reforms to make private health insurance simpler and more affordable have delivered the lowest annual premium change in 19 years. The average industry premium change for 2020, which will take effect on 1 April, will be 2.92 per cent, down approximately 50 per cent since Labor’s last year in office. This is…

$437 million to improve the health of all Australians

The Morrison Government is investing $437 million in ground-breaking health and medical research projects across Australia aimed at delivering better treatments, diagnosis and care.   A total of 495 projects will receive funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) following a competitive process.   Projects include $68 million for cancer research, $58…

Educating the nurse of the future

The Morrison Government welcomes the release of the Independent Review of Nursing Education—Educating the Nurse of the Future.   The Government commissioned the review to ensure nurses are adequately equipped to meet the needs of Australia’s future health system.   Nurses are the largest single health profession in Australia, and comprise more than 40 per…

Government welcomes #YouCanTalk campaign

The Morrison Government welcomes the #YouCanTalk campaign, which encourages Australians struggling with their mental health to reach out and find support.   The awareness campaign is a collaboration between several organisations, including Beyond Blue, Everymind, headspace, Lifeline, ReachOut, RU OK?, SANE Australia, the Centre of Best Practice in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention,…

Red Nose and University of Queensland to share stillbirth education funding

The Morrison Government is investing $3 million through two organisations to improve community education and awareness about stillbirth.   Tragically, six babies are stillborn every day in Australia, with 2000 families affected by stillbirth every year.   Red Nose Limited and the University of Queensland, Stillbirth Centre of Research Excellence (Stillbirth CRE) will each receive…

$5 million investment for international research to prevent cancer

The Morrison Government is investing $5 million in a new funding round for research into the primary and secondary prevention of cancer, through the National Health and Medical Research Council’s partnership with the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases (GACD).   GACD is a unique collaboration of fifteen of the world’s leading publicly funded health research agencies…