Category
Health Equity
9 articles
Rural and Remote Health Access in Australia: The Policy Gap That's Costing Lives
Rural Australians die on average two years younger than their city counterparts. A policy analysis of the GP workforce crisis, specialist access deserts, the MBS telehealth permanency debate, RFDS funding constraints, and the concrete reforms needed to close the gap.
Australia's National Cancer Screening Programs: Participation, Equity, and the Next Decade
Australia runs three national cancer screening programs — NBCSP, BreastScreen, and Cervical — with a fourth Lung program due 2025-26. Participation gaps, HPV self-sampling impact, equity disparities, and 2025-2030 reform priorities are examined here.
Weight Stigma in Australian Healthcare: Evidence and Policy
How weight stigma in Australian healthcare policy deters care, drives worse outcomes, and what clinician bias training and GLP-1 era reframing can change.
Australia's Public Dental Health Crisis: The Medicare Gap That Harms Millions
Dental health is excluded from Medicare despite overwhelming evidence that oral health is integral to systemic health. Here's the policy case for universal dental coverage, the cost of inaction, and what reform would look like.
Telehealth Permanency in Australia: The Case for Making COVID-Era Reforms Last
Australia's COVID-era telehealth expansion delivered measurable access gains for rural patients, mental health consumers, and specialist-deprived communities. A policy analysis of what has been made permanent, what remains under review, and why the evidence strongly supports a fully permanent tiered telehealth model.
GLP-1 Medication Shortage in Australia: Policy Failures, Access Inequity, and the Path to Reform
Australia's GLP-1 receptor agonist shortage exposes deep structural failures in medicines policy. This analysis examines the supply crisis, access inequities, the compounding pharmacy debate, and six concrete reforms needed to ensure equitable access to life-changing obesity and diabetes treatments.
Medicare and PBS Reform for Obesity Treatment: What Australia Needs to Do
Australia's PBS coverage of obesity medications is inadequate, inequitable, and out of step with the clinical evidence. A policy analysis of the case for expanded PBS listing of GLP-1 receptor agonists and what reform should look like.
Australia's Indigenous Health Gap: Evidence, Accountability, and Policy Action
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians face a life expectancy gap of 8-9 years compared to non-Indigenous Australians. A policy analysis of the Closing the Gap targets, what the evidence shows works, and where structural reform must focus.
Social Determinants of Health: Australia's Structural Barriers to Equitable Outcomes
Housing instability, low income, educational disadvantage, and unemployment drive health outcomes more than healthcare access. Here's the evidence on social determinants and the policy reforms needed to address health inequality in Australia.