Published 2 August 2024
AHPA had its first meeting with the new Commonwealth Chief Allied Health Officer, Anita Hobson-Powell. The meeting was very positive and provided a great opportunity to discuss a range of current policy priority areas for the Department of Health and Aged Care and AHPA. These included:
- The development of the National Allied Health Workforce Strategy, AHPA and sector input through the Workforce Strategy Advisory Committee, and opportunities to support and engage with the allied health workforce data gathering work needed to underpin an effective strategy.
- Proposals for private health insurance reforms and the impact of expanding to non-allied health workforces with different scopes of practice and training.
- Allied health input into the development of the mental health initiatives from the 2024/25 Federal Budget initiatives.
We welcome Anita into her new role and look forward to working closely with her and the CAHO team on these and other areas.