The Australian federal election outcome

The RACP welcomes the new Australian Federal Government, in particular its commitment to the Uluru Statement from the Heart, which we whole-heartedly support. We look forward to the vision of the Statement becoming a reality and supporting First Nations leadership in working with government on closing the gap on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health.

There was a strong message sent on climate change through the federal election. During the election, the RACP led the Healthy Climate Future campaign, which is supported by nine other medical colleges, representing more than 100,000 doctors. We are calling for a climate-ready and climate-friendly healthcare system. We look forward to working with the new government to develop a national strategy on climate change and health, which it has previously committed to. The strategy must improve the resilience of our healthcare system to extreme weather events and reduce the healthcare system’s emissions, which currently make up about seven per cent of national emissions, to net zero. 

Gender equality has also been a key issue in the election. The RACP recognises that women face enormous barriers in entering and progressing through their medical career compared to their male counterparts, and we are committed to advancing gender equity in medicine. This requires a whole-of-health system approach and we look forward to working with government and other stakeholders on this key priority. 

There is a lot of work for the new government to do, as the challenges of COVID-19 continue, including delays to care and the immense strain on the health workforce, which must be urgently addressed. We are concerned about the impacts of the pandemic on children and young people. As part of the Kids COVID Catch Up campaign, we have been calling for mental health funding for children and young people, and the government has announced its Student Wellbeing Boost to provide mental health funding in schools. In addition, The Hon. Mark Butler MP, who may be the new Health Minister, committed to rapid review of supports required for children with disability in schools, in response to emails from Kids COVID Catch Up campaign supporters. We will be holding the new government to these commitments and urging it to go further.  

We also look forward to working with the government on the improvements in healthcare system and caring industries it has committed to, following strong advocacy from RACP and other voices. These include improvements to aged care, childcare, a review of the NDIS, the establishment of a centre for prevention and disease control and a $1.5 billion medical manufacturing fund.