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National Cabinet signs off workforce funding boost
Part of a new $1.2 billion Medicare package will go towards the Kruk Review recommendations, the Prime Minister has said.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the healthcare reforms are ‘substantial’. (Image: AAP)
Funding measures designed to boost Australia’s health workforce have been announced by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese following a National Cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
Part of the new $1.2 billion Medicare funding package will be used to implement recommendations from the Kruk Review designed to address health workforce shortages, the Prime Minister announced.
He said these will be funded by the Government and put in place jointly with state governments.
The Kruk Review was agreed by National Cabinet last year and its final report is expected before the end of 2023. An interim report was also released in April, with the college subsequently committing to simplify its own assessment and accreditation processes.
Aside from helping to ease workforce issues, the extra Medicare funding will go towards more Urgent Care Clinics, as well as support for older Australians to avoid hospital admission or to get discharged from hospital care earlier, according to Prime Minister Albanese.
However, the his statement immediately after the National Cabinet meeting did not clarify how the $1.2 billion will be divided.
He said health had been ‘the number one priority’ during discussions, with first ministers agreeing the extra resources to reduce pressure on the hospital system.
‘These measures … will grow and support our health workforce while reducing unnecessary presentations to emergency departments,’ he told reporters.
Cabinet also endorsed an increase in Federal contributions to public hospital funding through the National Health Reform Agreement to a total share 45%, which will be phased in from 1 July 2025 over 10 years.
The total Federal contribution to public hospital funding currently stands at 41%.
Under the agreement that level will rise to 42.5% by 2030, then to 45% in the following five years.
‘Importantly, Australians want an approach to healthcare that recognises that primary care and hospital care are linked and that we need to strengthen primary care in order to take pressure off hospitals,’ Prime Minister Albanese said.
When asked about the extra funding for the Urgent Care Centres, the Prime Minister said it will mean more clinics but did not give a number.
He said that the 58 Urgent Care Centres introduced following a 2022 election promise had been ‘far more successful than we envisaged’.
The future of the NDIS was another headline issue for National Cabinet, with full details of a long-awaited NDIS Review due to be published later this week.
The review has been written by disability reformer and economist Professor Bruce Bonyhady and former senior public servant Lisa Paul, who were tasked with carrying out an analysis into the sustainability and effectiveness of the NDIS system.
State and Federal Ministers agreed to limit the growth in NDIS costs to 8% a year from 2026 at a previous National Cabinet meeting this year.
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