30 March 2021 — Report

Federal Budget 2022-23 analysis

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

TGA Consultation: Proposed regulatory options for medical devices containing nanomaterials

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

Expression of Interest - Collaborative Pairs National Program 2021

Collaborative Pairs

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

Expressions of interest close 1 April 2021. 

16 March 2021 — Report

Life Transitions and Youth Pathways to Health Services Recommendations

Luke Catania
15 March 2021 — Youth Health Update

Youth Health Update March 2021

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 Shaping Health - Mar 2021

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

Life Transitions and Youth Pathways to Health Services

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

CHF Loneliness Roundtable 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 Shaping Health - Feb 2021

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

view the newsletter

1 February 2021 — Submission

CHF Pre-Budget Submission 2021-22

CHF has provided this submission to the Commonwealth Government with recommendations for policy proposals and funding initiatives to be included in the 2021-22 Budget to improve health and wellbeing outcomes for Australian health consumers.

The submission draws on the work of CHF's 2020 Consumer Commission, the recommendations of the Productivity Commission's final report into mental health and the work of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. CHF calls for the establishment of an independently governed national health consumer leadership academy and the adoption of a Health in All Policies approach to address the social determinants of health. Due to the significant disruption and change experienced in the health system in 2020 caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, digital health is also prominent with CHF calling for the Federal Government to fund a network of digital navigators and digital navigation platforms to support consumers to access care.

We also see significant opportunities to use this moment of change to adopt new models of care and reorient towards a focus on prevention through both the 10 Year Primary Health Care Plan and the National Preventive Health Strategy.

The full submission is available below.

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