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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Description
The RACP argues challenges in specialist access stem from workforce maldistribution, limited public capacity, higher patient complexity, affordability barriers and suboptimal referral pathways. The submission outlines priority actions: access monitoring, MBS reform, expanded rural training, better specialist outreach, streamlined referral pathways and innovative models of care. A related submission addresses specialist affordability by focusing on excessive fees.
Description
The RACP's submission to the Inquiry into racism, hate and violence directed at Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people highlights the profound impacts of systemic racism on health outcomes, patient safety and access to culturally safe healthcare.
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The RACP supports the draft NSW Alcohol and Other Drugs Strategy 2026-2036's harm minimisation approach but calls for funded, measurable action. Its 14 recommendations include increased treatment funding, a larger addiction medicine workforce, stronger alcohol policy including a minimum floor price, expanded harm reduction measures such as community drug checking, Aboriginal self-determination, addiction medicine representation in governance, and public reporting on outcomes.
Description
Our submission to the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing's consultation on excessive specialist fees supports a staged approach, prioritising better data, transparency, informed financial consent and a fair review process. It calls for further work with colleges, the CPMC and specialty societies to define an excessive fee, and stresses that affordability also depends on Medicare rebate reform, workforce planning and public outpatient capacity.
Description
Australia’s Regional Rural and Remote Healthcare Crisis Report presents the key challenges, evidence base, and policy directions needed to strengthen specialist healthcare access outside metropolitan areas. The report highlights inequities in specialist care, along with the pressures facing the regional, rural and remote workforce and the structural barriers that continue to constrain training capacity and long-term retention. The report sets out a five-point plan to build a resilient, local...
Description
In our Aotearoa New Zealand election statement, Let Us Care: A plan to improve specialist care for New Zealanders, the RACP calls on all political parties to commit to three practical, achievable actions that will improve access to specialist care, strengthen a pressured workforce, and deliver better outcomes for patients.
Description
The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Position Statement outlines evidence and policy on ending HIV transmission and improving health outcomes for people living with HIV. It calls on Australian and Aotearoa New Zealand governments to fully fund free universal access to HIV healthcare services; increase sexual health sector funding; and fund and support the implementation of innovative, evidence-informed, and equitable multidisciplinary models of care for HIV prevention and management.
Topic
Election-related health advocacy
Description
The RACP and its Victorian Committee are committed to working with the incoming Victorian government to enable physicians and trainees to meet the community’s health needs, both today and tomorrow.
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Our feedback to the review of the National Pharmaceutical Benefits Regulations calls upon the PBS to centre compliance education and proportionate risk management approaches for PBS prescribers in regulatory reform. It urges the PBS to better differentiate regulatory approaches for prescriber administrative error from penalties for deliberate non-compliance.
Description
The RACP broadly supports the Federal Government’s proposed private health reforms aiming to improve neonatal care, hospital in the home services and rural and remote private hospital funding. Our recommendations aim to reduce pressure on the hospital sector, optimise physician workforce distribution and improve patient access to innovative, sustainable physician-led care models.
