14 October 2022 Submission

Nutrition labelling about added sugars

Tammy Wolffs

Fresh eyes on sugar labelling

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) is reviewing how sugar is labelled on food packaging.  Seemingly simple, FZANZ consulted widely.  Should packaging for canned and frozen fruit and vegetables include added sugar content?  How about dried fruit?  Alcohol?  And how should added sugar content be presented?

CHF added the health consumer voice to a working group, with other interested organisations, including the Obesity Policy Coalition, Dieticians Australia, The George Institute, Auckland University, and other organisations to consider these and many other questions.

Read the full response.

31 August 2022 Youth Health Update
Youth Health Forum
  • Elizabeth Deveny, the new interim CEO for CHF invites young people to participate in discussions about health ccess and affordability 
  • Opportunity to participate in Preventive Health Engagement Strategy 
  • Luke Catania steps down after 1½ years as the CHF National Youth Health Forum Coordinator

View the newsletter

12 August 2022 Consumers Shaping Health
Consumers Health Forum

What science can tell us about the future of health

The value of science was reinforced over the two years of the pandemic as trust spiked and Australians turned to scientists and experts to guide us out of the threat. In the August 2022 edition of Consumers Shaping Health, we ....

  • share our letter to the Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, outlining CHF's priorities for health
  • promote a new program  for improving digital skills
  • publish the replay of the webinar with the Minister for Health and Aged Care Hon Mark Butler, and link to some survey results and videos for young people and mental health 

view the newsletter

4 August 2022 Submission

Submission on the Government’s October Budget: Health and Wellness

Tammy Wolffs

CHF wrote to the Treasurer in advance of the October Budget to set out the issues that are important to CHF, our members, and health consumers broadly.

The submission welcomes the Government's decision to deliver wellbeing Budgets in the future, and seeks initial steps to address cost of living pressures faced by the most disadvantaged in the community, including:

  • raising the rate of JobSeeker and related income support payments
  • increasing support for social and other housing
  • addressing other social determinants of health.

The submission is reinforcing the importance of health reform, including additional funding commitments, and pointed to the Roadmap developed by delegates at the Primary Healthcare Leadership Summit co-convened by Consumers Health Forum and the Primary Healthcare Cooperative in May 2022

14 July 2022 Consumers Shaping Health
Consumers Health Forum

Back to the fundamentals

What is a wellbeing Budget? Why should we be thinking about more than GDP?" In the July 2022 edition of Consumers Shaping Health, we ....

  • Outline CHF's support for the inclusion of long term visionary planning for Australians in the Budget
  • publish short blogs on research in health and digital health by Annette Schmiede, CEO, Digital Health CRC and Julia Nesbitt, Digital Policy Adviser, CHF
  • open up applications for members and consumers to put their questions to the Minister of Health and Aged Care, Hon. Mark Butler

view the newsletter

13 July 2022 Submission
Consumers Health Forum

Submission from Consumers Health Forum  on the expansion of Telehealth Services, to the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO)

The objective of this audit is to assess whether the Department of Health has effectively managed the expansion of telehealth services during and post the COVID‐19 pandemic.

Audit criteria 

The ANAO proposes to examine:

  • Was the expansion informed by robust planning and policy advice?
  • Was the expansion supported by sound implementation arrangements?
  • Has monitoring and evaluation of the expansion led to improvements?

For more on this audit read here

CHF Conclusion 

While health care services are designed to offer consistent access and delivery for everyone, the system’s design frequently fails to acknowledge the various socio-economic, regional, and cultural barriers that hinder equitable access to care. This inconsistency is illustrated by the significant disparities in health outcomes and overall health of across the population. 
The overriding impression is that telehealth was designed as a measure aimed at ensuring access to healthcare for all consumers. Recent changes, however, seem to treat Australians as a homogenous population - which it is not, particularly in terms of equity in access to healthcare.  The recent changes and elimination of a raft of telehealth MBS items appear to reflect an abandonment of the initial driving principle that represented a focus on, and concern for the health of all Australians. 

28 June 2022 Health Voices
Consumers Health Forum

Patient navigation – making the connections to better health

In this issue of Health Voices, researchers, consumers and advocacy groups discuss the role of the navigator – and other ways to support consumers and carers – to access different aspects of medical and social care and treatment is becoming essential in Australia’s complex and fragmented health care system.

Read the June 2022 edition of Health Voices

14 June 2022 Fact Sheets
Consumers Health Forum

CHF is more active than ever working on behalf of consumers for a better health system, and we have highlighted our significant achievements in the CHF Report Card for 2021-2022. As we move forward with a new federal government, there are many new opportunities for consumer-directed policies and programs, and for strengthening the consumer voice.

We continue to serve as a thought leader in health care and shine a light on where health care can be improved with our focus on equity and fairness of access.

During 2021-2022 we: 

  • led with pioneering work on consumer leadership with Collaborative Pairs Youth in partnership with Orygen and Centra North Coast PHN and developed a prospectus for an Australian Health Consumer Leadership  Academy  
  • partnered with research institutions for projects on consumer sentiment and digital health 
  • produced submissions on behalf of consumers on many issues in health care
  • produced a series of resources and videos to aid vaccine confidence in consumers for community-led conversations and health care professionals, with the Dept of Health
  • nominated and supported consumer advisors 
  • published a range of reports
  • launched Consumer Link, an informational and educative webinar series for consumer representatives.
  • hosted the Youth Health Forum Summit with 250+ participants
  • monitored and reported community responses through our Australia’s Health Panel surveys on issues of the moment including virtual health care, self-financed private treatment, Medicare and private health insurance in the past year.
  • kept in touch with diverse communities with CHF Special Interest Groups (SIGs) that are active on issues including Primary Health Care, Research & Data, Digital Health, Safety & Quality in Healthcare, Rural & Remote Health and our newest group for Mental Health. 

Find out more about membership

10 June 2022 Youth Health Update
Youth Health Forum
  • Election 2022 update and new Ministers announced 
  • Consumer advisory roles 
  • Health Consumers Queensland Webinar: Reimagining Healthcare For Young People

View the newsletter

6 June 2022 Consumers Shaping Health
Consumers Health Forum

In the perfect storm of crises, can the new government bring about the change we seek?

Now the Federal Election is over, we can see signs that the incoming Labor Government is wasting little time getting down to business on its election promises. In the June 2022 edition of Consumers Shaping Health, we ....

  • CHF will be joining the new Health Minister on the "Strengthening Medicare Taskforce"  - intended to prioritise the next steps to remedy issues for Medicare 
  • Give you an update on the Primary Health Care Leaders’ Summit with the PHN Co-operative (includes all 31 Primary Healthcare Networks) 
  • Explain digital health interoperability, push for an independent review of Private Health Insurance through the Productivity Commission, and publish the webinar replay on communication in health care. 

view the newsletter

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