Published 1 February 2024, revised 2 February 2024
AHPA contributed to the Australian Treasury’s call for pre-budget submissions. Our submission identifies four critical promblems and details solutions for each. The health priorities in our submission are:
Build a sustainable allied health workforce
Nationally consistent allied health workforce data is needed to support quality workforce planning, sustainability and service modelling.
Facilitate interoperable sharing of allied health information
Interoperable electronic health systems across care settings are required to enable real-time sharing of holistic information wherever a consumer may access services.
A standard clinical terminology data set applicable to the Australian allied health practice context is needed before software developers can include allied health information into any interoperable electronic health system solution, including My Health Record.
Promote excellence in residential aged care allied health data, analysis and evaluation
The allied health-related reforms recommended by the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety require provision of allied health services to aged care residents based on clinically assessed need. This has not yet been achieved. Government must work with the allied health sector and residential providers to collect and analyse quality detailed data and evaluate implementation outcomes.
Ensure best practice provision of allied health supports to NDIS participants
Allied health services (therapy supports) are vital to help NDIS participants maintain and improve function, build their capacity and access assistive technology. Implementation of the reforms recommended by the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability and by the NDIS Review must involve the allied health sector, including in addressing underutilisation of therapy supports and ensuring sufficient allied health workforce capacity.
The full submission is available here.