It’s crude and would send any qualified statistician into shock but a ‘quick and dirty’ analysis of the election scorecards produced by peak health groups ranks the Greens first and the Coalition last.
By combining the scores provided in the scorecards below, awarding 3 points for being ranked first, 2 points for second and 1 for third, the following overall ranking can be determined:
Greens – 13 points
Labor – 10 points
Coalition – 8 points
Clearly the scorecards measure different aspects of health policy and use different measuring systems so the scores above should be interpreted with caution. However, they do indicate an overall preference among health groups to a Green or Labor Government and concern on a number of fronts with the prospect of a Coalition win.
Click on the links of the organisations below to obtain more information about their election scorecards and assessments of the political parties’ performance.[divide]
Jennifer Doggett writes:
Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association
Labor a clear winner with 9 ticks followed by the Greens on 7 and the Coalition a distinct last with only 2.
“Labor supports universal care and is working toward a more sustainable health system. Further development of reform proposals will be important.”
Labor with 25 platforms met or supported edges out the Greens with 22. The Coalition lags behind in third with only 17.
“Our political leaders need to take more account of consumer needs and their experience of the health system if we are to design a fit-for-purpose 21st century health system for Australians”
Greens first with 11 ticks, followed by the Coalition (9 ticks) with Labor (8 ticks) not far behind
“SPA advocates for development and implementation of a National Suicide Prevention Strategy that is consistent with the ten-point framework laid out by the World Health Organization (WHO).”
The Greens with 6.5 are way in front of Labor on 2, which edges out the Coalition on a dismal 0.
“Neither of the major parties have credible climate change policies (i.e. consistent with Australia meeting its commitments under the Paris Agreement, and assuming its fair share of the global task to cut emissions).”
No scores provided by the MHA but on its scorecard the three parties look fairly evenly matched.
“It has been encouraging to hear the parties talking about mental health in the second half of the campaign, and there have been some important initial commitments, but to fix Australia’s broken mental health system we strong long-term commitments.”
Rural Doctors Association of Australia
No scorecard from the RDAA but an explicit endorsement of the Coalition and the Greens
“Last week’s announcement by Senator Fiona Nash, Minister for Rural Health on the establishment of a Rural Health Commissioner and a Commitment to progressing a National Rural Generalist Training Pathway by a re-elected Coalition, was a turning point in their Campaign.”