The recent letter sent to GPs warning against co-billing Medicare for physical and mental health issues is as concerning for health consumers as it is for doctors. We expect Medicare funding to be used appropriately to deliver high-value care and for waste to be avoided, but the treatment of...

Jan Donovan The risks and costs of overdiagnosis pose an important and complex issue for health consumers in Australia and many other countries. An international conference on Preventing Overdiagnosis held in Sydney recently shone light on the varied issues raised by overdiagnosis that demand...

The consequences of the terrible bushfires which have swept Australia in recent days bring together two systemic challenges impacting on life as we know it: climate change and an outmoded health system. The fires make increasingly urgent the need for remastered health and environment approaches...

Do you have ideas about how we can improve primary health care? If you do, there may be an opportunity --- if you sign up this week --- to have your ideas considered in the development of Federal Government policy. For most Australians, primary health care is our most common contact point with the...

Consumers as leaders in healthcare will be the central theme of the inaugural Australasian Shifting Gears conference hosted by the Consumers Health Forum in September 2020. The health system is “shifting gears” with consumers demanding and acquiring a greater say in health – their own and society’s...

The recording of Breast Cancer Network Australia (BCNA) and Consumers Health Forum of Australia’s (CHF) joint free online webcast, The Rise of the Consumer Voice , is now available. The webcast was a discussion on the evolution and current state of the health consumer movement in Australia. Members...

The CHF Members Policy Forum was held at the Shine Dome in Canberra on 12 November and we welcomed almost 60 of our members to what we hope will be the first of many such events. We have received excellent feedback following the event with members particularly enjoying the chance to talk policy...

How knowledge, understanding and trust are central to the success of the AIHW’s National Primary Health Care Data Asset. Leanne Wells The Consumers Health Forum joined with the Australian Insitute of Health and Welfare to help raise consumer awareness and understanding about the institute’s...