Helen Haines (Indi, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to discuss a matter of immense public importance that every member of this House I know deeply cares about: the postcode lottery of accessing quality health care in Australia. I thank the member for Fowler for raising this issue and inviting this important conversation. I acknowledge what the assistant minister has just spoken to in the House, and I'm particularly appreciative of the many actions the government have taken, in particular, in regard to PBS and Medicare. But they know—and I'm about to point out to them—that there is more work to be done. Access to health care should not be a game of luck. Whether you live in Cabramatta or Chiltern, or in Liverpool or Londrigan, you should have access to the services you need to look after both your physical and your mental wellbeing. Unfortunately, we know this is not the case, because the data lays it out very clearly.

In Australia, access and outcomes strongly correlate with where you're from, and nobody knows this better than people who live in remote, rural and regional Australia. I've spoken countless times in this place about health inequity in my electorate of Indi. We're more likely to have a long-term chronic health condition and less likely to be able to see a local doctor, dentist, pharmacist or psychologist. In fact, we are more likely to die younger than our metropolitan cousins. This is not a problem caused by regional and rural people. It's not a problem caused by our wonderful healthcare professionals. It's a problem that's been caused by years of policy settings that do not appropriately support regional and rural health care, with models tailored specifically for our context.

One thing that's missing in non-metropolitan postcodes, in addition to many others, is the necessary health infrastructure. Many regional health services operate out of ageing facilities that struggle to accommodate growing patient volumes and simply aren't equipped to accommodate and deliver modern health care. While urban hospitals receive upgrades and expansions, regional and rural hospitals struggle against a funding gap that's only getting bigger. Before you say, 'State governments do hospitals,' I have to remind the House that we see a very different story come election time when the taxpayer funded chequebook comes out and we see investment from the Commonwealth in our hospitals, in particular seats. Now, this is dispiriting. But, to address this disparity, I've come to the House. Last year I called for the establishment of a $2 billion Building Regional and Rural Hospitals Fund. That's a lot of money, but it takes a lot of money. But what I want is fairness and equity.

This Building Regional and Rural Hospitals Fund would be a needs based investment in facilities and equipment for hospitals in Modified Monash Model areas 2 to 7. People living in rural and remote areas have higher rates of hospitalisation, but they don't have the luxury of choosing between several nearby hospitals. The one that they can access then needs to be reasonably equipped to treat them. One way to tackle the postcode lottery is to give regional and rural hospitals a clear, transparent pathway to seek funding from the Commonwealth for the infrastructure for the communities that they are trying to serve.

Next we need to concentrate, of course, on workforce. Health workforce shortages are another factor that contribute to the postcode lottery. This is well known. These shortages are particularly acute in regional Australia, and there are many pieces of the puzzle required to ensure that we have enough of the healthcare professionals that we truly need. We know that regional students who complete their training rurally are more likely to stay and work in rural communities. That's one of the best pieces of evidence we have. So increased funding for rural medical training is a logical solution, to support our regional students to complete their degrees, and I commend the progress that we've made on this. But we need more. We could triple the Murray-Darling medical program. When we do recruit doctors, we must have enough housing, childcare and education options for them to bring their families and actually build a life and stay.

Another practical solution is to help all healthcare students complete their study, and I've been very loud in this place in calling on the government to expand the Commonwealth prac payment program. We know that teaching, social work, nursing and midwifery students are already eligible and benefiting from the Commonwealth prac payments, and I'm hearing very positive reports of this. In fact, Demi, a teaching student from Bathurst, in regional New South Wales, told me that the Commonwealth prac payment significantly reduced her financial stress. Last month, in collaboration with Allied Health Professions Australia and Senator David Pocock, I launched a national petition calling for the expansion to include all allied health and medical students, and already, Minister, 20,000-plus—and counting—people are on that list.

In summary, I thank the member for Fowler. It is a postcode lottery in Australia, and we need to do more to breach it.

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