The Consumers Health Forum welcomes the National Preventive Health Strategy released today which sets out a positive agenda for a future healthier Australia, backed by the aim to earmark 5 per cent of the health budget for preventive action by 2030. The strategy identifies seven focus areas for...

The announcement today assuring telehealth’s future as a permanent part of Medicare acknowledges its vital role in enabling access to GPs, specialists and allied health professionals, the Consumers Health Forum said today. “Telehealth has been transformational to health care delivery during COVID...

The Consumers Health Forum thanks the Minister for Health, the Hon Greg Hunt MP, for his service to healthcare especially during the challenges of the COVID pandemic and the national vaccination rollout. “Minister Hunt has progressed a forward-thinking vision for Australia’s healthcare system,” the...

Quarterly private health insurance data from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) reveal that health funds have increased profits while benefits paid to members have dipped and out-of-pocket costs have grown significantly in the past 12 months. The Consumers Health Forum has today...

Young consumer health leaders have described their concerns and prescribed some solutions in the latest edition of the Consumers Health Forum ejournal, Health Voices . Anxiety about the climate, mental health services for young people and how young Australians can take more control of their futures...

The Consumers Health Forum has welcomed the Federal Government’s additional support for community-based care for COVID cases but urges Australians to take care as Australia transitions to ‘living with COVID’ arrangements. “The easing of lockdowns and opening of borders mean that even with an...

The latest exposé of the controversial practices of one of Australia’s most widely known cosmetic “surgeons” highlights the need for urgent reforms to ensure patient safety is effectively protected, the Consumers Health Forum says. “The 4 Corners program last night detailed a litany of unresolved...

Young leaders have released a Call to Action to promote a much stronger role for young Australians in the design of health services to meet the “missing middle” needs of teenagers and young adults in health policy. The Call to Action seeks innovations including the creation of a youth healthcare...

On World Patient Safety Day tomorrow (17 September), the World Health Organization seeks to raise global awareness on the issues of maternal and newborn safety. The recently-published Fourth Australian Atlas of Healthcare Variation has revealed that approximately half of the planned caesarean...