On the night of Tuesday, 14 May, Croakey began a rolling wrap of general reaction to the Federal Budget from across the health, medical and humanitarian aid sectors. By the time the post was updated for the last time, it contained more than 24,000 words from 48 organisations.
It’s important to note that we published separate reactions compiling reaction from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health sector, from organisations focused on the social determinants of health, and the concerns of climate health advocates.
The whopper post of general reaction included statements from some of the country’s most powerful health and medical organisations, including the Australian Medical Association, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, and the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation.
Since then we’ve published many articles raising concerns about the Budget’s lack of investment in two critical public health initiatives: the National Health and Climate Strategy, and the Australian Centre for Disease Control. We also published a damning analysis by Charles Maskell-Knight showing that funding for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health programs is set to decline in real terms.
In view of these concerns and subsequent events – including this week’s dire warning from the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres that we are speeding towards “climate hell”, and World Health Assembly resolutions urging nations to do much more on climate and health and to promote health in all policies – we thought it might be useful to reverse the gaze on the health sector.
The period around Budget night is a critical opportunity for public policy debate and advocacy, providing insights into the priorities of organisations and sectors.
Did health and medical leaders step up? Did they advocate for action on the big public health and social challenges that we face, from the escalating climate crisis to the under-funding of First Nations peoples’ health, and the failure of successive governments to invest in the wellbeing of people on Job Seeker and Youth Allowance?
Or were organisations narrowly focused and motivated primarily by self-interest, whether for their members or sector?
The analysis below is based on key word searches of those 24,000 words from 48 organisations, presented below in two formats.
Guterres warned that “the battle for 1.5 degrees will be won or lost in the 2020s – under the watch of leaders today”.
“All depends on the decisions those leaders take – or fail to take – especially in the next 18 months,” he said.
It’s a timely reflection for health and medical leaders too.
Governments won’t do the right thing just because it’s the right thing; they need to be prodded and pushed, and also understand that there will be political costs if they don’t act. The period around the Budget is an important opportunity for sending messages to the Government, as well as the Opposition and other MPs.
Shortly after the Budget was handed down, Dr Kate Wylie commented on LinkedIn: “Climate care is healthcare, and it’s incredible how silent the profession is on the lack of support for the National Health and Climate Strategy.”
The wider sector’s silence at critical moments, on the fossil fuels crisis, justice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, inequality, and other important public health concerns, speaks volumes.
Statements were by the following organisations
- Public Health Association of Australia
- Planetary Health Equity Hothouse at ANU
- Australian Health Promotion Association
- Australian College of Nursing
- Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
- Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association
- Consumers Health Forum of Australia
- Cohealth
- FARE
- Australian College of Midwives
- Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation
- Australian Medical Association
- Headspace
- Australians for Mental Health
- Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists
- Suicide Prevention Australia
- Digital Health Cooperative Research Centre
- People with Disability Australia
- LGBTIQ+ Health Australia
- Palliative Care Australia
- Australian Multicultural Health Collaborative
- Australasian College for Emergency Medicine
- Royal Australasian College of Physicians
- Australian Physiotherapy Association
- Services for Australian Rural and Remote Allied Health
- Allied Health Professions Australia
- Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine
- National Rural Health Alliance
- Asylum Seeker Resource Centre
- Australian Council for International Development
- Oxfam Australia
- ActionAid
- AMES Australia
- Health Equity Matters
- ASHM
- Royal Australian College of GPs
- Rural Doctors Association of Australia
- Australasian College of Paramedicine
- Catholic Health Australia
- Dementia Australia
- MS Australia
- Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia
- Pharmaceutical Society of Australia
- Medicines Australia
- Association of Australian Medical Research Institutes
- Lung Foundation Australia
- Medical Technology Association of Australia
- Australian Association of Psychologists.
See Croakey’s coverage of the 2024-2025 Federal Budget
.
