AHPA to play a role in shaping Australia’s primary and preventive healthcare strategies

Published 1 November 2019, revised 7 November 2019

AHPA is pleased to announce that we have secured representative roles on two key steering committees that will shape Australian policy on healthcare over the next decade.

As announced by Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt, the Primary Health Reform Steering Group and the Expert Steering Committee for Preventive Health Strategy will advise the government on development of its Primary Health Care 10-Year Plan and the National Preventive Health Strategy. Both are components of Australia’s National Long Term Health Strategy and areas in which allied health practitioners provide crucial support for Australians.

The representative roles reflect an increased recognition by government that allied health professionals from a range of disciplines have essential roles in primary care and in the prevention, management and treatment of chronic disease. The inclusion of AHPA on the steering committee will enable us to advise the government on issues specific to the allied health sector in those areas. These include understanding how patients access primary care, practice models with an allied health focus, support for allied health students and graduates, intersections with other systems including disability and aged care, implementation of Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) review recommendations, and digitisation of the allied health sector.

More information about these groups is available from the Minister’s announcements regarding the establishment of the Primary Health Reform Steering Group and Expert Steering Committee for Preventive Health Strategy.