31 March 2021 Report
Consumers Health Forum

Australasia’s first health consumers conference involving over 820 delegates from Australia and around the world has given fresh momentum to consumer direction and influence in health care.

The first ever Shifting Gears Summit on consumer experience and leadership in health care was hosted in March 2021 by the Consumers Health Forum of Australia (CHF) – Australia’s peak body for health consumers.

Consumer leaders and experts with an interest in health care consumer affairs covered topics as diverse as why it is time to re-imagine health and social care; ‘big ideas’ for change; global trends in safety and quality in health care; and future horizons in healthcare.

The focus is shifting further from consumer-centred care to consumers as partners in healthcare. This communique covers a brief summary of important points drawn from the summit and some main ideas for future direction.

Read the communique

30 March 2021 Report
Consumers Health Forum

Federal Budget 2022 - 23 analysis

The Federal Budget 2022-23 was handed down by the Treasurer, Josh Frydenburg on Tuesday 29 March 2022, and we have been working hard to bring you the latest information and expert commentary on how the Budget responds to the needs of health consumers.

Our Budget Briefing analysis is attached or you can download it from here.

Our media release on the Budget is here: Federal Health Budget: steady as she goes, not transformational

Further to this, leaders from the Youth Health Forum also provided commentary in a media release: Young people’s health and wellbeing: we must not leave them behind

Contact Policy Director, Jo Root on email: J.Root@chf.org.au with any questions and feedback

29 March 2021 Submission
Consumers Health Forum

In 2015, the Report of the Expert Panel Review of Medicines and Medical Devices Regulation (MMDR) made 58 recommendations for reform of the regulatory framework for medicines and medical devices in Australia. The Australian Government Response to the Review of Medicines and Medical Devices Regulation was released in September 2016. The Government accepted 56 MMDR recommendations including Recommendation Twenty which provided that the regulation of medical devices, wherever possible and appropriate, align with the European Union (EU) framework including the classification of medical devices.

The focus of this consultation was to seek feedback on whether the Australian medical device regulatory framework should be aligned to the new EU framework for medical devices containing nanomaterials introduced in 2017, and how this could occur.

16 March 2021 Fact Sheets
Collaborative Pairs

Expression of Interest information for the Australian National Virtual Pilot in 2021. 

Expressions of interest close 1 April 2021. 

15 March 2021 Youth Health Update
Youth Health Forum
  • Meet Luke Catania the new national coordinator
  • Check out the latest YHF report on Youth Health Transitions
  • Invitation to CHFs international summit #ShiftingGears

View the newsletter

9 March 2021 Consumers Shaping Health
Consumers Health Forum

Transitions a part of life and health care

Three reports on three difficult and different issues that challenge the health system have been released in the last week... ...

  • Royal Commission Report on Aged Care
  • Royal Commision Report into Victoria's Mental Health System 
  • Life Transitions and Youth Pathways to Health Services

view the newsletter

22 February 2021 Report
Youth Health Forum

This report has been produced by the youth health forum, click here for more info and to see the latest from YHF

 

Life Transitions and Youth Pathways to Health Services

In youth, there is a unique opportunity to establish health for life by equipping young people with the tools they need to get help when they need it, and by supporting young people to speak up about how they can live their healthiest possible lives. The 2020 Youth Health Forum (YHF) was created to make young people’s ideas and experiences part of our national discussions about services for young Australians. It was co-hosted by the Consumers Health Forum of Australia (CHF) and the Wellbeing Health & Youth (WH&Y) NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence and supported by funding from the Australian Government Department of Health. The Youth Health Forum Report, produced by CHF and WH&Y, is based on the discussions, insights and ideas of YHF delegates.

The report contains a number of recommendations to the federal government to support this, produced by the YHF Young Leaders and youth health advocates within the forum. 

Standalone PDFs of a 3 page summary of the report and 1 page reccomendations document are available. 

16 February 2021 Report
Consumers Health Forum

This report provides a roadmap for addressing loneliness in Australia, outlining the findings of the Loneliness Thought Leadership Roundtable, a virtual event held in November and December 2020.

Introduction

Loneliness has been shown to be linked to poor physical and mental health, and poor personal wellbeing, leading to adverse effects on communities. In the United Kingdom, governments are taking a strong leadership role through the development of a National Loneliness Strategy and in Australia, efforts to develop a nationally coordinated and evidence-based approach to tackle increasing rates of loneliness in our communities are just beginning. Loneliness is clearly a significant issue for consumers. As a result, CHF recognises that addressing loneliness is critical to improving the health and wellbeing of consumers and so we are pleased to have initiated this discussion and to be partnering with a community of experts to move this issue forward. 

Date of publication 

January 2021 

4 February 2021 Consumers Shaping Health
Consumers Health Forum

Health literacy means alot

How health literacy and consumer-centred healthcare plays an important part in any initiative introduced to improve the health of our population ... ...

  • The introduction of Active Ingredient Prescribing 
  • The COVID vaccine roll-out and diverse communities 
  • CHF Federal Budget submission 2021-22

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