2. Compendium of Priorities and Initiatives (continued)
Health and Ageing
Ageing and aged care
Increasing the viability supplement
This measure will provide $14.8 million over two years to increase the level of government funding provided through the viability supplement, which is paid to eligible aged care providers in regional, rural and remote areas to operate viable businesses, by assisting with the extra cost of delivering services in these areas. This will help ensure continued investment by the industry to meet the increasing demand for aged care in those areas.
The measure helps ensure that older people living in regional, rural and remote areas have continued access to sustainable aged care services.
Mental health and the workforce
Health response to the Victorian bushfires — additional psychological support
The Health response to the Victorian bushfires — additional psychological support is providing $7.3 million over two years, for the provision of additional mental health support to individuals and communities affected by the Victorian bushfires, many of which are located in rural and regional areas.
This measure will increase access to specialised psychological support for individuals, including targeted counselling for young people, and community capacity building activities aimed at promoting broader emotional recovery. It will also provide education, training and support to health professionals supporting the individuals with persistent psychological symptoms.
Extension of the Mental Health Support for Drought Affected Communities Initiative
The extension of the Mental Health Support for Drought Affected Communities Initiative is providing $5.2 million in 2009‑10 to enable the continuation of community outreach and crisis counselling for individuals, families and communities who are in distress due to drought.
This initiative will raise community awareness of mental illness, promote help‑seeking behaviours and improve access to crisis counselling and support for drought‑affected rural and regional communities.
Continuation of Existing Rural and Remote Mental Health Services
The Continuation of Existing Rural and Remote Mental Health Services measure provides additional funding of $6.7 million over four years to maintain the provision of mental health services in rural and remote areas that have very limited or no access to mental health services.
The measure will maintain around 11,000 mental health services to 3,000 clients in rural and remote communities in a 12‑month period and continue to employ 47 allied and nursing mental health professionals.
Health and Hospital Fund
Through the Health and Hospital Fund, the Government is providing critical infrastructure for rural and regional communities, including:
- A total of $560 million to build a network of up to eleven best‑practice regional cancer centres, to help close the gap in outcomes for cancer patients in rural and regional Australia
- $7.9 million to replace the current paediatric ward at the Broome Hospital
- A $27 million integrated Narrabri district health service in Griffith
- $8.6 million for a much‑needed expansion of renal dialysis services in the Kimberley
- $76 million to expand Rockhampton Hospital
- $13.6 million to build a new Emergency Department on the grounds of the Alice Springs Hospital and relocate the Medical Imaging Department.
Primary and ambulatory care
Improving rural health
Australians in rural and remote communities have poorer access to medical services than people in urban Australia. This measure will improve the supply of doctors in regional, rural and remote Australia by providing more GPs where they are needed, especially in the most remote communities. To reward rural GPs, existing incentives will be better targeted and the geographic classification systems used to underpin these programs will be updated.
Funding of $134.4 million over four years will encourage more doctors to remain in and relocate to rural and remote areas. Overseas‑trained doctors and Australian‑trained doctors with restrictions on where they can practice will be able to discharge their obligations sooner by working in remote communities. A new national locum service will be introduced, and rural doctors will be supported to undertake further education and training. The Government will also implement a new Rural Primary Health Services program that will introduce flexibility into primary health care service provision in small rural and remote communities by consolidating four existing health service delivery programs.
Population health — preventive health
National Partnership Agreement on Preventive Health
The Council of Australian Governments announced the National Partnership Agreement on Preventive Health on 29 November 2008. The Australian Government will provide $872.1 million over six years from 2009‑10 to the partnership. The partnership will fund measures addressing the rising prevalence of lifestyle risks of chronic disease, which accounts for the greatest part of the burden of disease in this country.
Under the agreement, $72 million will be made available for the Healthy Communities initiative to fund the rollout of lifestyle modification programs focusing on poor nutrition, physical inactivity, smoking and excessive alcohol consumption. These community‑based interventions will be managed by local government organisations, with priority given to socioeconomically disadvantaged areas, many of which are in rural and regional Australia. The program will reach around 115 local government areas by 2013.
Indigenous health
Torres Strait Health Protection Strategy
The Government will invest $13.8 million over four years to enhance health prevention and security for communities in the Torres Strait and northern Australia.
This funding will contribute to a joint package of measures being developed by the Australian and Papua New Guinea governments to reduce the risks associated with cross‑border transmission of communicable diseases. These diseases include tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections. An estimated 50,000 people move between Papua New Guinea and the Torres Strait each year.
The funding also continues the Australian Government's support to Queensland for the detection, control and elimination of exotic mosquitoes to prevent the spread of diseases such as dengue fever.
Quality Assurance for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Medical Services (QAAMS) pathology program
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are diagnosed with diabetes at an estimated rate of 3.4 times that in the general population. Preliminary studies have shown that immediate access to diabetes testing that is provided on the spot (at the point of care) has improved the health care outcomes for the program participants.
The Government is committing $3.8 million over four years to the QAAMS program for the training and support of health care workers in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health care services and for the quality assurance of pathology testing undertaken at the point of care. In 2009‑10, $0.8m will be allocated for this program to support the existing 130 participating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health service sites. This will expand over four years to $1.1 million in 2012‑13 to support approximately 170 participating services. Approximately 80 per cent of these sites will be located in regional and remote areas throughout Australia and this program builds the capacity of Indigenous health care workers to provide high‑quality technical services in their own communities.
Mobile dental services pilot for rural and regional Indigenous communities
Indigenous Australians in rural and regional areas have poorer dental health than almost any other group of Australians, in part because of poor access to dental services.
The 2009‑10 Budget includes funding of $11 million over four years to pilot mobile dental service delivery in rural and regional areas where access to dental services is poor. Communities with access to a mobile dental clinic provided under the pilot will benefit from the project.
Indigenous early childhood development — increasing access to antenatal care for young Indigenous women
The Government is providing funding of $108.4 million over five years to states and territories to improve access to antenatal care for young Indigenous mothers and to support young Indigenous women to make informed decisions about their transition to adulthood, with a particular focus on family planning. States and territories will implement new strategies to reduce barriers to access and improve service provision for young Indigenous women. Specific strategies will vary across jurisdictions, and will be developed in consultation with Indigenous groups and experts. States and territories will focus efforts in areas with significant numbers of young Indigenous women and high numbers of births to teenagers.
Continuation of the Northern Territory Emergency Response
This measure will provide funding of $131.1 million over three years for the continued regional reform of remote Indigenous primary health care services to ensure comprehensive and coordinated delivery of care to the benefit of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in the Northern Territory — including children. This includes providing additional funding to complete follow‑up services for dental and ear, nose and throat conditions identified through the Northern Territory Emergency Response child health checks.
Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory will continue to be serviced by doctors, nurses and other health professional through the Remote Area Health Corps; they will continue to have access to expanded drug and alcohol services; and they will also have access to expanded services responding to child abuse‑related trauma.
Improving eye and ear health services for Indigenous Australians for better education and employment outcomes
The Government will provide $58.3 million over four years to increase access to eye and ear health services for Indigenous Australians, including those residing in regional and remote areas. Key components of this measure include the expansion of the Visiting Optometrist Scheme, increased services to address trachoma, training for health workers in hearing screening, maintenance and purchase of equipment for hearing screening, additional eye and ear surgery and hearing health promotion activities.
The measure will lead to better education and employment outcomes for Indigenous Australians, and support increased participation in community life.
Expanding Link Up Services for the Stolen Generations
This measure will provide $13.8 million over three years to reduce the impact of loss, grief and trauma on the mental and physical health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and promote their social and emotional wellbeing.
Members of the Stolen Generations and their descendants, families and Indigenous communities affected by past government removal policies and practices, including those in regional areas, will benefit from this initiative through the provision of:
- over 100 Return to Country or Institutional reunions
- additional case workers, together with the administrative support needed to address a critical backlog in Link Up services.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people will also benefit from improvements to the preservation of and access to records for family tracing and reunions.
COAG — Closing the Gap in Indigenous Health Outcomes — Commonwealth Chronic Disease Package
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across urban, regional and remote areas will benefit from this comprehensive package of $805.5 million over four years, which will tackle chronic disease risk factors, improve chronic disease management in primary care, improve follow up care and increase the capacity of the primary care workforce to deliver effective health care. Through this initiative, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, including those living in regional and remote areas, will have increased access to preventive and primary health care services.
Continuing 2008‑09 Budget measures
John Flynn Placement Program (JFPP) expansion (Support for rural health)
In the 2008‑09 Budget, the Government provided $4.6 million over four years to expand the JFPP. This national initiative provides placements to rural and remote communities with a Rural, Remote and Metropolitan Area classification of four and above (rural and remote areas with fewer than 25,000 people).
The program brings medical students from the city to live and work in rural communities during their vacation periods. Students complete two week annual placements at the same location over a four year period. The scheme provides for travel costs, accommodation fees and general living expenses (paid directly to each student) and also reimburses mentoring doctors and community hosts for their time supporting each student.
Support for rural health — Specialist Obstetrician Locum Scheme (SOLS)
The Specialist Obstetrician Locum Scheme (SOLS) supports the access of rural women to quality local obstetric care by providing the rural specialist obstetrician workforce with locum support. In 2008‑09, an expansion to include GP obstetricians and GP anaesthetists was announced with funding of $7.9 million over four years.
During 2008‑09, SOLS continued to provide locum support to rural obstetricians and GP obstetricians. GP anaesthetists will gain access to locum support in early 2009‑10. Since 1 October 2008, over 60 placements have been provided.
Support for allied health in rural areas
This national initiative will help allied health students meet reasonable travel and accommodation costs involved in a rural clinical placement.
The Government has committed $2.5 million over three years from 2008‑09 to provide funding for a scholarship program for allied health students from metropolitan, rural and remote backgrounds to undertake clinical placements in rural or remote communities. Scholarships are for allied health disciplines (such as psychology, occupational therapy, physiotherapy and podiatry) and are proposed to commence in the 2009 academic year. Subsequent rounds will open in March / April each year.
This measure will have a long‑term impact on the rural workforce by increasing the capacity of the allied health workforce. By increasing the number of qualified allied health professionals working in rural areas, it will also contribute to improving the quality of the primary and allied health service provision.
New Directions: An Equal Start in Life for Indigenous Children — child and maternal health
In 2008‑09 the Government provided $90.3 million over five years to give Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mothers and their children, specifically those children aged 0‑8 years, better access to child and maternal health services, including home visiting. Additional child and maternal health services will be established in targeted areas, including regional centres. This will contribute to the Australian Government's commitment to halve the gap in infant mortality rates between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and non‑Indigenous children within a decade.
COAG — Reducing Alcohol and Substance Abuse and its Impact on Families, Safety and Community Wellbeing in Remote Indigenous Communities
This 2008‑09 measure was provided with funding of $49.3 million over four years to establish new residential treatment and rehabilitation services for people from remote Indigenous communities, fund minor upgrades of facilities or housing to accommodate additional staff, and create new positions for drug and alcohol workers. The measure includes new drug and alcohol services to support Welfare Reform initiatives in remote Cape York communities.
Through this initiative, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, particularly in remote Australia, will have better access to drug and alcohol treatment and rehabilitation services.
Link Up and Bringing Them Home
The commitment to the Link Up and Bringing Them Home programs aims to reunite Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Stolen Generations members with their families and communities. Established in 2008‑09 with funding of $15.7 million over four years, it will also support the wellbeing of individuals, families and communities through the provision of 20 additional Bringing Them Home counsellor positions nationally.
The measure provides improved Link Up and Bringing Them Home services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, including those in regional areas.
Better Outcomes for Hospitals and Community Health — $21 million boost to health services in the Northern Territory
Better Outcomes for Hospitals and Community Health aims to improve patient treatment and outcomes care through both hospital and community care initiatives.
The $21 million boost to health services in the Northern Territory will provide funding from 2008‑09 for new and upgraded health infrastructure to improve health service capacity, particularly in remote areas; provide mobile sexual assault counselling services for Indigenous children and families in targeted regional areas; and bring renal dialysis services closer to Aboriginal people in remote areas, making it easier for them to access much needed health treatment.
Northern Territory Emergency Response — Expanding health service delivery in the Northern Territory
This initiative received funding of $99.7 million over two years from 2008‑09 to enable Aboriginal people in remote communities and regional areas in the Northern Territory to have their health checked regularly and receive follow‑up care through better coordinated regional primary health care services. It will establish a remote area health corps agency to bring more health professionals to the Northern Territory, and will also deliver more regionally based, comprehensive primary health care services to meet the complex health needs of Aboriginal people.
GP Super Clinics
The GP Super Clinics Program was established in 2008‑09 with funding of $275.2 million over four years. GP Super Clinics will provide the physical infrastructure to improve local access to multidisciplinary, team‑based health care. The provision of infrastructure will also support education and training opportunities for medical, nursing and allied health students and GP registrars. Successful funding recipients have already been announced in over a third of the 31 locations identified for a GP Super Clinic.
Medical Specialist Outreach Assistance Program (MSOAP)
In 2008‑09, additional funding of $12 million over four years was allocated to the Medical Specialist Outreach Assistance Program (MSOAP) to support medical specialists to deliver an expanded range of outreach services in rural and remote communities.
The expansion of the MSOAP commenced on 1 July 2008, and is providing opportunities for the delivery of new or expanded medical specialist services, assisting in addressing waiting lists for patients requiring treatment and reducing the need for patients to travel to metropolitan areas to access services.
National Rural and Remote Health Infrastructure Program (NRRHIP)
In 2008‑09, the Australian Government established the National Rural and Remote Health Infrastructure Program (NRRHIP), which is an amalgamation of the former Rural Medical Infrastructure Fund and the former Rural Private Access program.
The NRRHIP commenced on 1 July 2008, and will direct more than $46 million over four years to the provision of essential health infrastructure (capital works, purchase of equipment or both) in rural and remote communities with populations of up to 20,000, and strategic service planning for small rural private hospitals. Since 1 July 2008, 58 projects to the value of approximately $13.7 million (GST exclusive) have been approved under the NRRHIP.
Active After‑school Communities Program
The Active After‑school Communities (AASC) program is a free after school hours sport and structured physical activity program offered to all Australian primary schools and Child Care Benefit‑approved out of school hour care services during the 3.00 pm to 5.30 pm timeslot. The program provides primary school children with a fun and safe introduction to over 70 sports and 20 other structured physical activities.
The AASC program currently involves up to 150,000 primary school children and up to 3,250 sites. The AASC program reaches all regions and populations of Australia, including Indigenous (14 per cent of sites), remote/rural (48 per cent of sites), sites that cater for children with special needs (14 per cent) and school of the air.
National Talent Identification and Development Program
The National Talent Identification and Development (NTID) program is designed to help sports identify talented athletes (12 years and older) and prepare them for participation in domestic, national and international competition. The program uses information across all disciplines of sports science to identify young athletes with characteristics associated with elite performance. Once identified, the young athletes are provided with the opportunity to realise their potential in a high‑quality talent development program. The NTID program also has project coordinators located at various locations around Australia, including Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane and Adelaide.
Australian University Sport closely supports the NTID program through talent assessment centres at regional universities, which provide infrastructure support to national recruitment and testing initiatives undertaken by NTID.
The Talent Assessment Centre (TAC) network, which has the purpose of extending the reach of the NTID program into regional areas of Australia, has now conducted more than 30 testing sessions on behalf of the NTID program. In addition to this, the development of the fully national, interactive website ETID now extends the metropolitan reach of the NTID program to every corner of Australia that has an internet connection. This works to provide the considerable regional athletic talent residing in this country with another avenue to come to the notice and attention of high performance sport.
Further information
Further information about these and other health and ageing initiatives relating to rural and regional Australia is available at www.health.gov.au.
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