The global COVID-19 pandemic took place in the context of another crisis – the upheaval of the news media landscape, writes Kerry McCallum, on behalf of the News and Media Research Centre at the University of Canberra. Technological, cultural and policy shifts mean big changes to the way ‘news’ as...
Lynda Condon, consumer advocate The CHF community was deeply saddened to hear of the passing recently of Lynda Condon. Lynda was a passionate consumer advocate, and the co-facilitator of the CHF Safety and Quality Special Interest Group. She was always kind and equally fierce in her determination...
If anything positive has come out of COVID-19 it is increased trust and respect in the community for science and the vital importance of access to and appropriate use of good data. With the speed of the introduction of digital innovations, including in health, there has been a noticeable and...
Calls by two leading health industry organisations for a summit to discuss private health insurance reform raise a development of significant interest to health consumers. The Consumers Health Forum has been calling for a Productivity Commission inquiry into the issue of government assistance for...
It’s Health Literacy Month and Australia’s experience with COVID-19 has shown us just how important health literacy --- knowledge and community awareness about our health care --- has been to counter the pandemic, whether by public health measures, masks or vaccination. The Consumers Health Forum...
The National Medicine Policy Review now underway comes at an opportune, if bitter-sweet, time. The all-embracing impact that COVID-19 has wielded in the health system holds important lessons for the future shape of the way Australia — its consumers, clinicians and industry — manage medicines. That...
As a former general nurse and midwife in outback South Australia, Christine Wakelin brings an in-depth grasp of health issues in the bush. She has lived and worked for many years with husband Barry on a farm, 23 kms from the town of Kimba. “We claim to be halfway across Australia, from Sydney to...
Australia’s health system is no longer fit for purpose and central to the fundamental changes needed should be a shift towards a more wellness-focused and consumer-centred ethos. It is time to move on from the old-fashioned notion that in health policy we pay attention only to the clinician and not...
Emily is 22 years old and can’t wait to be vaccinated for COVID-19. The long awaited vaccine signals freedom from the pandemic and the chance to relax from the worry, and to travel, visiting friends and family in Broome. Emily has been working in young people’s mental health since her early teens...
Kellie O’Callaghan has had her two COVID vaccinations, not only because of her own health conditions but also because she is an active member of her community in Gippsland, Victoria. She is urging everybody to get vaccinated as soon as they can. “That way we can get back to the freedom and doing...

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