Fact sheet 4: Health and ageing
See also: Department of Health and Ageing budget details
Ageing
Total Commonwealth spending on aged care will amount to more than $6.9bn in 2006-07.
The Budget commits $108.3m over five years for new initiatives, and funding totalling $311.3m over four years to extend existing programs.
It also provides $152.7m for improved provision of hospital care, including in small rural hospitals, to older people who are eligible for aged care, as part of the major package of health reforms agreed at COAG in February 2006.
The funding measures announced in the Budget include:
- $8.6m over four years to pay for additional unannounced aged
- care home visits by the Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency
- $1.8m over four years to extend police checks to all volunteers
- participating in the Community Visitors Scheme
- $4.7m over three years for a major expansion of the aged care
- Community Visitors Scheme
- $21.6m over four years to identify and replicate best practice
- clinical care in aged care homes
- $13.4m over four years for training for the community care
- workforce
- $24.2m over five years to improve arrangements for aged care
- assessments
- $65.9m over four years to continue two vital training programs
- for nurses and aged care staff
- 150 additional flexible places for care of older Aboriginal and
- Torres Strait Islander people
- $19.4m over four years to help offset the higher costs and
- recruitment difficulties faced by community aged care services in rural
- areas
Minister for Ageing, Senator Santoro said that the Budget "invests heavily in the safety of residents, the quality of care and the skills of the dedicated and tireless people who dedicate their careers to looking after the frail aged."
Further information on Budget ageing initiatives is available on the Department of Health and Ageing web site.
Health
The 2006-07 Federal Budget contains a range of new health and ageing initiatives focused on medical research the treatment and prevention of mental illness, more health workers, and prevention of chronic, avoidable diseases.
Medical research
Around one third of the additional health and ageing spending allocated in this Budget will go to medical research, with new funding ($500m over four years), for individual researchers and medical research institutes. This commitment follows the Government's announcement of its decision to sell Medibank Private Limited, and completes the Government's response to the 2004 Investment Review of Health and Medical Research (the "Grant Review").
Mental health
The mental health reforms detailed under the Government's contribution to the COAG Mental Health package were announced on 5 April 2006. Additional funding of $1.9bn is detailed in the Budget. This will assist Australians who have ongoing or episodic mental illness. People who might have been forced deeper into illness, social isolation or, in many cases, related drug problems, will have better access to medical and personal support. These measures will provide families, schools and health professionals with more support in recognising and addressing mental illness and new assistance to people who are living with mental illness and their families. A national information campaign will raise awareness of the links between illicit drug use and mental illness.
Rural and remote healthcare
COAG has discussed the challenges in delivering health and community care services to people in rural and remote areas. In response, and as part of its contribution to the COAG Health Workforce package, as announced on 8 April 2006, the Australian Government is continuing to expand the number of doctors and nurses being trained within our higher education system. A proportion of new medical places will be bonded to areas of workforce shortage to encourage doctors to work where they are needed, such as outer city suburbs and rural areas. Some $51.7m over five years has been allocated to assist people living in rural and remote Australia to have better access to mental health services.
Indigenous health
The 2006-07 Budget provides an additional $136.7m to help Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to better health. The Government is addressing petrol sniffing by committing further funding to the whole-of-government approach announced in September 2005. It will also deliver specialised training for health workers in Indigenous communities to ensure that people with mental health problems receive early help and treatment before their symptoms worsen and become more difficult to treat. This initiative forms part of the Government's recently announced package to provide better mental health services for Australia. The Government is funding more doctors and health workers, including Aboriginal Health Workers, to provide more health services to Indigenous communities.
Illicit drugs
The 2006-07 Budget provides $214.1 million in new funding to combat illicit drug use, alcohol misuse and support drug and alcohol treatment services around the nation.
Better health initiative
The Government will provide $250m over five years from 2005-06 towards the new national programme to promote good health and reduce the burden of chronic disease, Australian Better Health Initiative. This initiative, agreed by the Council of Australian Governments in February 2006, will have total funding of $500m, with the remainder supplied by the States and Territories.
Further information on Budget health initiatives is available on the Department of Health and Ageing web site.
For information about ALGA's analysis of the Budget regarding Health and ageing please contact: