Policy and Advocacy Library
The library is the culmination of the collaborative work of RACP members and comprises a comprehensive range of evidence-based, published RACP position statements, policies and submissions.
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Topic
Child health and young adult medicine
Description
The RACP, ASDP and ACAH wrote to The Hon. Mark Butler MP, Minister for Health and Ageing and Minister for Disability and the National Disability Insurance Scheme, and Senator the Hon Jenny McAllister, Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme, regarding the Thriving Kids initiative.
Description
Our submission to the Productivity Commission interim report on Delivering Quality Care More Efficiently welcomes its recommendations on Indigenous health partnerships and prevention, but stresses need for broader action on digital health integration, medicines access, workforce wellbeing, support for overseas-trained doctors, safe adoption of AI, and reducing low value care. It calls attention to the need to move from concept phase to practical implementation of collaborative care models, such as the RACP Model of Chronic Care Management, to strengthen integration across primary, hospital and community settings. It also urges investment in prevention, alignment with the new CDC, and a health-focused Productivity Commission roundtable to drive system-wide efficiency.
Topic
Voluntary Assisted Dying
Description
The RACP has written to the Northern Territory Government’s Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) Inquiry, referencing the College’s earlier submission to the Northern Territory Voluntary Assisted Dying Community Consultation in 2024, highlighting the diversity of views among physicians on this issue. It emphasises that any changes to NT legislation must be developed in close consultation with medical experts, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and community-controlled organisations. Key messages include the need for strong safeguards against coercion, adequate investment in palliative and end-of-life care, culturally safe models of care for First Nations peoples, comprehensive monitoring and reporting, and funded training and support for practitioners. The RACP does not take a position for or against legislative change but stresses the importance of ensuring safe, equitable, and culturally appropriate care.
Description
The RACP has written to the Queensland Youth Justice Reform Select Committee’s Inquiry, providing evidence and resources to support better health outcomes for children and young people. The College highlighted its position statements on child health, Indigenous child health, early childhood and inequities in health, with a focus on recommendations to improve care for those in or at risk of entering out-of-home care. The RACP has also offered the expertise of its members to assist the Committee throughout the Inquiry.
Topic
Access to healthcare
Description
The RACP submitted to the Health Select Committee on the Healthy Futures (Pae Ora) Amendment Bill. The RACP supported certain aspects of the Bill, such as including a new purpose of ensuring patients get timely access to quality health services, a focus on infrastructure provision and planning. The RACP also expressed deep concerns regarding other aspects of the Bill including the diminished role of Iwi-Māori Partnership Boards, the removal of the health sector principles, and the removal of the requirement for the Expert Advisory Committee on Public Health to have expertise in population health, health equity, te Tiriti, epidemiology, health intelligence, health surveillance, health promotion, health protection and preventative health.
Description
This feedback to the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC) Credentialing and Defining Scope of Clinical Practice – Guide for Managers and Clinicians emphasises the need for transparent, conflict-free credentialing processes, strong safeguards against bias and misuse, and accessible appeal pathways in health services. It stresses that credentialing frameworks must be workable across diverse physician worksites. The importance of supporting workforce flexibility, portable credentialing, balancing credentialing for quality and safety with efficiency and physician wellbeing is centred.
Description
Our submission to Ahpra’s review of the Supervised Practice Framework advocates for flexible, supportive, and practical approaches to supervision that promote wellbeing and psychological safety for both supervisors and supervisees. We call for clearer guidance, better resources, and greater flexibility in supervisory arrangements for clinical complexity, supervisee circumstance, remote practice, and workforce pressures, particularly in rural and pressured clinical work settings. The submission recommends targeted reforms to make the Framework fairer, more accessible, and aligned with the realities of physician practice.
Description
The RACP and its Tasmanian Committee are committed to advocating for the development of policies that are based on evidence, informed by the knowledge and expertise of physicians, and that benefit the health of Tasmanians and the Tasmanian healthcare system.
Description
The RACP submitted feedback to the Finance and Expenditure Select Committee on the Regulatory Standards Bill. The RACP opposes the Regulatory Standards Bill, highlighting the potential for adverse impacts on public health, health outcomes for Māori and Te Tiriti o Waitangi presented by the provisions of the Bill.
Description
Our submission to the Productivity Commission urges it to recommend implementation of key reforms needed to modernise My Health Record, strengthen medicine access, support physician wellbeing, ensure safe AI integration, and expand efforts to reduce low-value care. It also encourages better collaborative funding and commissioning of health care services for physician care integration and more investment in primary and secondary prevention to reduce pressure on our hospitals.
