Elective surgery restrictions eased

The Australian Government in partnership with states and territories, peak surgical bodies, the AMA and the private hospital sector will be increasing the availability of elective surgery in a safe and carefully considered way which ensures the wellbeing of both patients and healthcare workers.   This is possible due to the strong collaboration across governments…

headspace Rosebud opens for the community

Young people on the Peninsula will now be able to access better mental health support with the opening of a new headspace satellite service in Rosebud. Supplementing the services of the existing headspace centre in Frankston, the Rosebud satellite will provide three of the four core headspace streams. The service will also provide outreach support…

Australians embrace telehealth to save lives during COVID-19

More than 4.3 million health and medical services have now been delivered to a total of more than three million patients through the telehealth items introduced by the Australian Government for the COVID-19 pandemic. The use of telehealth instead of face-to-face consultations is helping to stop the spread of the virus, protecting both patients and…

Record 16.5 million flu vaccine doses to protect Australians

The Australian Government has secured three million additional doses of seasonal influenza vaccines to protect Australians from the flu, bringing the total number of flu vaccines available for Australians to 16.5 million for 2020. These additional three million flu vaccines will be available through GPs and community pharmacies over April, May and June. This includes…

58 million face masks arrive to protect health workers from COVID-19

The Australian Government has now received 58 million protective face masks that will help provide essential protection for frontline health workers at risk of COVID-19. The protective face masks have arrived ahead of the scheduled delivery date of the end of April, and in greater numbers than the 54 million previously predicted. They will allow…

Protecting the lives of Australians with disability during Coronavirus

The Australian Government has taken urgent action to protect the lives of Australians with disability as we continue to confront the coronavirus pandemic. On Thursday, National Cabinet agreed to release the Management and Operational Plan for COVID-19 for People with Disability (the Plan). The Plan forms part of the national response developed by the Government…

Working to preserve Mount Martha North Beach

The Morrison Government will provide funding of $1.5 million to conserve coastal systems at Mount Martha North Beach.   Member for Flinders, the Hon. Greg Hunt MP, said that the Mount Martha community, particularly the Mount Martha North Beach Group, had worked tirelessly for many years to protect the coastal environment.   “The Mount Martha…

Transcript – A Current Affair Interview with Deborah Knight

E&OE…                       Topics: COVID-19 update; flattening the curve; planning the ‘road out’; Australia’s healthcare workers.   DEBORAH KNIGHT:         Minister, thanks so much for joining us. Now, you pointed specifically to Easter as a crucial weekend for the country to get on top of coronavirus. How did we go?   GREG HUNT: Australians were travelling about…

Transcript – The Project interview with Waleed Aly and Carrie Bickmore

E&OE…                       Topics: COVID-19 testing; Coronavirus in Singapore; Research funding announcement   CARRIE BICKMORE: For the very latest, we’re catching up with Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt.   Minister, new cases are down which is great news, but is there a chance that there might be a whole lot of people in the community who…

$3 million to boost the national coordinated COVID-19 research response

The Australian Government will provide a further $3 million to support frontline health workers with training and information which will support the treatment of patients with coronavirus. $1 million in funding from the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) will transform the treatment and management of patients with severe coronavirus, delivering better patient outcomes. The CovED…