Media releases

The Consumers Health Forum of Australia (CHF) has welcomed Prime Minister Morrison’s announcement of a Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. Our response to the Government’s consultation on the scope of the inquiry said that the adequacy and quality of health services in residential...

Fifty young people from around Australia meet today (Wednesday 19th) at an inaugural Youth Health Forum in Canberra to discuss the health challenges they face, including their experience as the “Missing Middle” of the health system. The gathering, initiated by the Consumers Health Forum, brings...

Australia’s health system is under strain and in urgent need of transformation to strengthen consumer-centred and community-based primary health services a new report has found. This is the view of a roundtable of national health and consumer leaders who have urged political leaders to recognise...

Australia’s premier scientific body, the CSIRO has pinpointed empowering consumers as a key to improving Australia’s health, confirming a message the Consumers Health Forum has highlighted for years. In its Future of Health report , the CSIRO put “empowering consumers” as its number one point in...

The new Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, has named chronic illness as one of his policy priorities in a notable comment welcomed by the Consumers Health Forum of Australia. And it is good to see that the Morrison Government is keeping Greg Hunt as Health Minister to maintain continuity on health...

Australia’s hospitals would reduce avoidable suffering of hundreds of thousands of patients and save many millions of dollars every year by introducing more effective quality and safety systems, a Grattan Institute study has found. “Our hospitals by and large perform and serve patients well, but...

The random scale and nature of out of pocket fees charged by medical specialists revealed in a new official report highlights the need for more equity and transparency in the health system, the Consumers Health Forum says. The report into out of pocket charges for services outside hospitals...

Discounts on health insurance premiums for young people under 30 would erode the community-sharing principles of private cover, further entrenching a two-tiered system, the Consumers Health Forum said today. In its submission to the Senate Community Affairs Community inquiry into health insurance...

The Consumers Health Forum welcomes the Government’s announcement that it will amend the My Health Record Act to strengthen safeguards to protect security and certainty of personal medical records. “The announcement last night by Health Minister Greg Hunt of legislative changes states that no MHR...

The need for a strong primary health care system which is so important in the lives of millions of Australians with chronic illness should be a central focus of all political parties at the next federal election, the Consumers Health Forum says. “Too often the value of primary health care delivered...