This scorecard refers to the political parties’ election announcements on rural and remote health, and scores them against the top priorities of the National Rural Health Alliance.
22 November 2007
Key:
0 no announcement or does not address the NRHA priority
1 announcement(s) which partially meet the NRHA priority
2 announcement(s) which fully meet the NRHA priority
- The Greens have committed to an independent national inquiry.
- Labor intends to establish a National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission and has committed to a Primary Health Care Strategy. The Democrats and Greens support this approach. The Coalition’s plan for public hospitals and health care includes new proposals to work with the States through the AHCAs.
- Labor and the Democrats have committed to a specific rural/remote heath plan.
- Neither major party has committed extra money for the Rural Medical Infrastructure Fund. Both are announcing financial support for facilities in selected towns. The Greens and Democrats support extra multipurpose community health centres and primary health care services for rural and regional areas.
- All Parties are committed to augmented funds for Indigenous health, but the plans of the Democrats and the Greens are more comprehensive (in terms of national coverage and/or funding to be committed).
- The Coalition's dental health program under Medicare is less comprehensive than Labor’s plan for a Commonwealth Dental Health Program, with the latter supported by the Greens and Democrats.
- The Coalition and Labor will fund a dental school for JCU at Cairns, and support the CSU initiative and rural placements for existing dental undergraduates. The Democrats have indicated specific support for rural/remote dental workforce proposals. The Greens support increased dental student places.
- The Greens and Democrats support additional undergraduate scholarships for rural people and would reduce the cost of access to higher education. Labor would double the number of John Flynn Scholarships.
- The Democrats would support an integrated national rural health undergraduate placement scheme. Labor would establish an Allied Health Rural and Remote Clinical Placement Scholarship Scheme.
- All Parties have recognised concerns about the spatial distribution of expenditures under the new Medicare item numbers for mental health. Special rural programs would be supported by the Greens and Democrats.
This Election Scorecard reflects the views of the National Rural Health Alliance, but not necessarily the full or particular views of all of its Member Bodies.
