27 May 2022
The Royal Australasian College of Physicians welcomes the new Federal Government and says it looks forward to working together to achieve a future-focused, quality healthcare system for all Australians.
RACP President Jacqueline Small says “We congratulate the Albanese Government and look forward to working productively together.
“There is a lot of work to be done to improve the healthcare system, as the challenges of COVID-19 continue, including delays to care and the great strain on the health workforce, which must be urgently addressed. The pandemic has revealed problems in our health system that require dedicated investment to ensure we can continue to deliver a first class health system.
“We are immensely pleased the Government has committed to implementing the Uluru Statement from the Heart in full, which the RACP wholeheartedly supports. The gap in health and social justice outcomes for First Nations people, which is shortening life expectancies, is utterly unacceptable and must be addressed by supporting First Nations leadership. We look forward to continuing to work with First Nations Leaders to increase access to specialist services.
“There was a strong message sent on climate change through the Federal Election, including by the RACP led Healthy Climate Future campaign. This 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 are pleased to see the Government’s commitment to a national strategy on climate change and health. The strategy must improve the resilience of our healthcare system to extreme weather events and reduce the healthcare systems emissions to net zero. This will help Australia to achieve the Government’s emissions reduction targets, build capacity in transitioning to a zero-emissions economy and make our communities more resilient to climate change.
“We are deeply concerned about the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on children and young people and have been campaigning on this issue through the Kids COVID Catch Up Campaign. We urge the Government to establish a national COVID-19 taskforce to lead a recovery plan with children and young people. We welcomed the Government’s Student Wellbeing Boost commitment to mental health funding in schools and call on the Government to expand on this to deliver the fully funded implementation of the National Children’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy.
“We are also calling for an urgent commitment to permanently retain phone telehealth items for specialist care beyond the current date of June 30, 2022.
“Phone telehealth is a vital lifeline for people in our regional and remote areas to connect with specialist care, especially for those living with disability, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and other people who may have limitations in travelling or accessing video technology – and we urge the new Government to permanently establish this.
“We look forward to engaging with the Government on improvements in healthcare system and the caring industries – including childcare and aged care. We also look forward to contributing the expertise of our members to the Government’s review of the NDIS, the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce, and the establishment of a centre for prevention and disease control,” Dr Small said.
Find out more about the RACP’s Kids COVID Catch Up Campaign: https://kidscatchup.org.au/
Find out more about the RACP’s Healthy Climate Future Campaign: www.racp.edu.au/climatefture