Michael Ronaldson (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Helen Coonan. Will the minister update the Senate on new developments in the use of technology to deliver better health care to Australians in rural and regional areas? How is the Howard government supporting these new high-tech solutions? Is the minister aware of any alternative policies?

Helen Coonan (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Ronaldson for the question. As coalition senators are aware, the government has been committed to rolling out quality broadband throughout the country because of the ability of communications to transform the way in which people live, particularly in rural and regional areas. It is nowhere more important than in rural and regional areas, where new technologies have the greatest potential to provide better access to vital services such as education and health.

Just yesterday we saw another significant step forward in the development of what has become known as telehealth technology. Telstra and the CSIRO have announced an agreement to provide hospitals with access to a new system that could make emergency specialists more available than ever. The agreement means the CSIRO’s Virtual Critical Care Unit, known as ViCCU, will be available to connect clinical specialists in city hospitals with staff and patients in country areas. The system allows specialists to see and talk to a patient, view scanned test results and give instructions to medical staff treating the patient simultaneously. This system is a great example of the clever applications being developed to take advantage of Australia’s rapidly growing broadband network. The system was developed in consultation with trauma specialists at Nepean Hospital who were looking for a way for emergency patients at Blue Mountains hospital to be treated locally rather than be transferred to Nepean.

ViCCU is just one of a number of innovative telehealth projects that have been developed with funding from the federal government through a range of different programs. Since 1997 the government has provided in the order of $65 million, through programs such as Networking the Nation and the National Communications Fund, directly to develop telehealth projects. For example, in western Queensland $8 million from the National Communications Fund is allowing a range of advanced health services to be used to support remote consultations for preadmission clinics, paediatrics, orthopaedics and mental health services. Similar initiatives have been funded in Far North Queensland, northern and western New South Wales, the Grampians in Victoria, and Tasmania. All of these services rely on the roll-out of quality broadband communications throughout Australia. It is why the government has invested $1 billion in rural and regional communications and has another $3 billion committed for just these sorts of purposes.

The Howard government understands the importance of communications services. Unlike the Labor Party, we have actually developed effective policies, we have funded them and we have delivered them. Only a couple of years ago it was Senator Lundy, I think, at the very forefront of a Senate inquiry that suggested that the government should spend billions on guaranteeing dial-up internet speeds of about 40 kilobits per second. How silly we would have looked if we had done the taxpayers’ dough following what Senator Lundy had recommended. Under this government we continue to roll out broadband services. We will continue to press ahead with our plans to ensure that Australians have good telecommunications services irrespective of where they live.