AUSTRALIA | Health Topics

There are multiple views on the strengths, weaknesses, and efficacy of Australia's health care system. Below is a curated list of perspectives and insights on various topics that best illustrate the scope of debate. This information has been collected from academic, media, and industry sources from both within and outside of the country. It is not comprehensive. The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors and are not a reflection of the position of the Mailman School of Public Health or its faculty.

The articles are provided with the source first followed by the link to the article. All sources used for the policy library can be found under the Additional Resources tab.

Health Topics Included

COVID-19

The New York Times | Racing Against the Virus From Inside Australia's Healthcare System¹

DISEASE & ILLNESS

State Government of Victoria | Mental Health Laws and Your Rights²

The New York Times | How Australia Could Almost Eradicate H.I.V. Transmissions³

Time Magazine | As Bushfires Rage, Australia Faces Another Challenge: Protecting National Mental Health⁴

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

The Guardian | Australia’s ‘Failing’ Environmental Laws Will Fuel Further Public Health Crises, Nobel Laureate Warns⁵

FINANCING & PAYMENT SYSTEMS

The Commonwealth Fund | How Are Costs Contained?⁶

Government of Western Australia Department of Health | Overview of the Australian Health System⁷

Health Affairs | Health Care in Australia: Lessons from Down Under⁸

GAPS & CHALLENGES

ABC News | Ambulance Costs Around Australia: Why Is It Free In Some States and Not Others?⁹

HelloCare | Bridging the Gaps in Healthcare¹⁰

HEALTH DISPARITIES & MINORITY HEALTH

Australian Bureau of Statistics | National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey, 2018-19 Financial Year¹¹

The Australian Human Rights Commission | Face the Facts: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples¹²

Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet | Overview of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Status 2019¹³

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare | Australia's Health 2018: In Brief¹⁴

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare | Indigenous Australians Data¹⁵

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare | The Size and Causes of the Indigenous Health Gap¹⁶

BBC | Closing the Gap: Australia's Indigenous Inequality 'Not Good Enough'¹⁷

BMC Health Services Research | Reducing the Health Disparities of Indigenous Australians: Time to Change Focus¹⁸

Chinese Nursing Research | Cultural Barriers Lead to Inequitable Healthcare Access for Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders¹⁹

Health Promotion Journal of Australia | Measuring Health Disparities in Australia: Using Data to Drive Health Promotion Solutions²⁰

The Lancet | Closing the Gap for Aboriginal Health²¹

The Lancet Respiratory Medicine | Indigenous Australians and the Struggle for Health Equality²²

Medical Journal of Australia | More Than A Refresh Required for Closing the Gap of Indigenous Health Inequality²³

TEDxSydney | How to Reduce Poverty? Fix Homes²⁴

MATERNAL & CHILD HEALTH

British Medical Journal Open | What Are The Costs Associated With Child and Maternal Healthcare Within Australia?²⁵

Journal of the American Medical Association | Quality of Health Care for Children in Australia, 2012-2013²⁶

Vox | Two Sisters. Two Different Journeys Through Australia’s Health Care System²⁷

PERSPECTIVES ON HEALTH SYSTEM

Australian Healthcare & Hospitals Association | Consumer Expectations and Healthcare in Australia²⁸

The Conversation | The National Cabinet's In and COAG's Out. It's A Fresh Chance To Put Health Issues On The Agenda, But There Are Risks²⁹

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development | OECD Reviews of Health Care Quality: Australia 2015³⁰

SAGE Open Medicine | A Review of the Australian Healthcare System: A Policy Perspective³¹

References

1. Lokuge, A. (2020, May 2). Racing Against the Virus From Inside Australia's Healthcare System . The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/01/world/australia/hospitals-coronavirus....

2. Department of Health & Human Services. (2015, September 18). Mental health laws and your rights. Better Health Channel. https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/ServicesAndSupport/mental-hea....

3. Albeck-Ripa, L. (2020, May 2). How Australia Could Almost Eradicate H.I.V. Transmissions. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/01/world/australia/hospitals-coronavirus....

4. Duchamire, J. (2020, January 8). As Bushfires Rage, Australia Faces Another Challenge: Protecting National Mental Health. Time Magazine. https://time.com/5759685/australian-bushfires-mental-health/

5. Cox, L. (2020, May 24). Australia’s ‘failing’ environmental laws will fuel further public health crises, Nobel laureate warns. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/may/25/australias-failin... laws-will-fuel-further-public-health-crises-nobel-laureate-warns.

6. How are costs contained? Commonwealth Fund. https://www.commonwealthfund.org/international-health-policy-center/syst....

7. Overview of the Australian health system. WA Health, Government of Western Australia. https://ww2.health.wa.gov.au/Careers/International-applicants/Internatio....

8. Altman, S., & Jackson, T. (1991). Health Care in Australia: Lessons from Down Under. Health Affairs, 10(3), 129–146. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.10.3.129

9. Ambulance costs around Australia: why is it free in some states and not others? ABC News. (2018, July 19). https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-20/ambulance-fees-around-australia/1....

10. Bridging The Gaps In Healthcare. (2017, May 31). HelloCare. https://hellocaremail.com.au/bridging-gaps-healthcare/.

11. National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey, 2018-19 financial year. Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2019, December 11). https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-is....

12. Face the Facts: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. The Australian Human Rights Commission. (2015, February 25). https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/education/face-facts-aboriginal-and-....

13. Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet. Overview of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Status 2019. https://nacchocommunique.files.wordpress.com/2020/02/overviewofaborigina....

14. Australian Institute for Health and Welfare, Australia's Health 2018: In Brief (2018). Australian Government. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-health/australias-health-2018....

15. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2014). The Size and Causes of the Indigenous Health Gap. https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/785f924a-85f4-4ca0-9dad-1abe0152c14c/7_....

16. Closing the Gap: Australia's Indigenous Inequality 'Not Good Enough'. (2020, February 12). BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-51469708.

17. Indigenous Australians Data. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports-data/population-groups/indigenous-austra....

18. Durey, A., & Thompson, S. C. (2012). Reducing the health disparities of Indigenous Australians: Time to Change Focus. BMC Health Services Research, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6963-12-151

19. Li, J.-L. (2017). Cultural Barriers Lead to Inequitable Healthcare Access for Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders. Chinese Nursing Research, 4(4), 207–210. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cnre.2017.10.009

20. Griffiths, K., & Smith, J. (2020). Measuring Health Disparities in Australia: Using Data to Drive Health Promotion Solutions. Health Promotion Journal of Australia, 31(2), 166–168. https://doi.org/10.1002/hpja.340

21. Closing the Gap for Aboriginal Health. (2019). The Lancet, 393(10173), 718. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(19)30405-2

22. Bond, C. J., & Singh, D. (2020). More Than A Refresh Required for Closing the Gap of Indigenous Health Inequality. Medical Journal of Australia, 212(5), 198. https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2020/212/5/more-refresh-required-closing-...

23. Morgan, J. (2015). Indigenous Australians and the Struggle for Health Equality. The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, 3(3), 188–189. https://doi.org/10.1016/s2213-2600(15)00045-4.

24. Pholeros, P. How to Reduce Poverty? Fix Homes. TEDx Sydney. www.ted.com/talks/paul_pholeros_how_to_reduce_poverty_fix_homes#t-63118.

25. Callander, E. J., & Fox, H. (2018). What are the costs associated with child and maternal healthcare within Australia? A study protocol for the use of data linkage to identify health service use, and health system and patient costs. BMJ Open, 8(2). https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2017-017816

26. Braithwaite, J., Hibbert, P. D., Jaffe, A., White, L., Cowell, C. T., Harris, M. F., … Muething, S. (2018). Quality of Health Care for Children in Australia, 2012-2013. JAMA, 319(11), 1113. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2018.0162

27. Scott, D. (2020, January 15). Two sisters. Two different journeys through Australia's health care system. Vox. https://www.vox.com/2020/1/15/21030568/australia-health-insurance-medicare.

28. Taylor, M., & Hill, S. (2014). Consumer Expectations and Healthcare in Australia. Australian Health & Hospitals Association, 1–17. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/270571884_Consumer_expectations....

29. Russell, L. (2020, June 10). The national cabinet's in and COAG's out. It's a fresh chance to put health issues on the agenda, but there are risks. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/the-national-cabinets-in-and-coags-out-its-a....

30. OECD Reviews of Health Care Quality: Australia 2015: Raising Standards: en. OECD. (2015, November 15). https://www.oecd.org/australia/oecd-reviews-of-health-care-quality-austr....

31. Dixit, S. K., & Sambasivan, M. (2018). A review of the Australian healthcare system: A policy perspective. SAGE Open Medicine, 6, 205031211876921. https://doi.org/10.1177/2050312118769211

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