Many minor parties are running at the federal election that will never form government and are unlikely to hold the balance of power. However, they do still have an impact on public debate and community attitudes and knowledge.
So what do parties like the Trumpet of Patriots, Pauline Hanson’s One Nation, Family First, the Australia First Alliance and the Fusion Party have to say on health? Charles Maskell-Knight investigates.
His column also reports on calls to support First Nations leadership on climate change and health, scope of practice matters, a new publication to help pharmacy workers talk about Voluntary Assisted Dying, World Hand Hygiene Day, and moves in the UK to ban tobacco sales to anyone born after 2008.
The quotable?
…immunisation efforts are under growing threat as misinformation, population growth, humanitarian crises and funding cuts jeopardise progress and leave millions of children, adolescents and adults at risk.”
Charles Maskell-Knight writes:
A working week bookended by public holidays made for a quiet period for health and aged care policy announcements and commentary.
Even the wave of election announcements abated somewhat once pre-poll voting began on 22 April, as the Australian Electoral Commission expects about half of the electorate to vote before election day. Election promises won’t attract votes if they are made after people have voted.
The day before polls opened, the Government promised funding to expand medical student training at Launceston (a move welcomed by the Royal Australian College of GPs), and funding of $2.6 million over four years to Street Side Medics, a free mobile GP service that provides health services to people experiencing homelessness across New South Wales and Victoria.
Later in the week the Government also promised $80 million to expand the emergency department at Fairfield Hospital; an additional $32 million to support men’s health, including funding for Movember and men’s sheds; and additional funding to expand capacity at a dozen of the busiest Urgent Care Clinics.
The Coalition echoed the commitment to men’s health.
Health Minister Mark Butler and Shadow Minister Anne Ruston appeared in a debate at the National Press Club, which produced more heat than illumination.
As Croakey colleague Jason Staines reported, the debate ignored many important health issues, including “First Nations peoples’ health, climate-linked health impacts, violence against women, cultural safety in healthcare, and prevention and public health matters, including the future of pandemic preparedness infrastructure”.
Even when it did touch on the important issue of access to affordable dental services, Butler and Ruston were on a unity ticket arguing that nothing could be done.
So far this election this column has focused on health policy commitments from the major parties, on the basis that they may be in a position to implement their commitments.
And over the last year I have reported on health policy positions put forward by The Greens.
This week I thought it would be interesting to look at those parties which will never form government, and are unlikely to hold the balance of power.
The Trumpet of Patriots policy platform promises a Royal Commission into COVID-19 and no vaccine mandates, but does not mention the word “health” once.
Pauline Hanson’s One Nation (PHON) says that “to encourage better regional medical services, One Nation will introduce three-year contracts for newly qualified medical professionals and in return pay their HECS-HELP loans in full”.
PHON also promises a Royal Commission into COVID-19 and no vaccine mandates. It proposes to bring down the cost of access to medicinal cannabis; and to “roll back brutal and extreme abortion law so that both unborn babies and pregnant women will have a level of legal and medical protection once again”.
Family First doesn’t appear to have a policy platform as such, but is campaigning for the human rights of unborn babies. The Australian Christian Party has a similar anti-abortion position.
The Australia First Alliance (AFA) is made up of the HEART Party, the Libertarian Party, and Gerard Rennick’s People First Party.
The HEART Party is committed to increasing consumption of organic food; increasing educational programs that promote the benefits of healthy living, life skills, eating nutrient-dense food and participating in small-scale food production; guiding allied health practitioners towards holistic and natural treatment alternatives; inspiring mental health practitioners to include complementary and natural medicines in their treatment regimens at all stages of mental healthcare; and providing a healthy water supply without the addition of fluoride or any toxic substances.
At the other end of the political spectrum, the Socialist Alliance is committed to “free healthcare for all”, including increasing the capacity of the health system; ending “back door co-payments”, boosting funding for preventative care and chronic disease management; free dental care; and expanding community based healthcare networks, reproductive and sexual health clinics.
The Fusion Party wants to add basic mental and dental health to Medicare, increase budgets for bulk-billing and telehealth, and treat alcoholism and other drug dependencies as health issues.
The Legalise Cannabis party argues that “cannabis and hemp are known for their health benefits and since they have been removed from our diet, we have seen an explosion of diseases such as cancer, dementia and autoimmune conditions that were once relatively rare. Reintroducing cannabis into our daily diet as a measure to prevent ill-health could reduce the long-term burden on the health budget”.
Government
The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care issued a statement marking the approach of World Hand Hygiene Day on 5 May, releasing a range of resources for health services and workers.
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) released updated data in a report on Alcohol, tobacco and other drugs in Australia and an article on Illicit drug use.
Ahpra announced the opening of consultation by the Paramedicine Board of Australia on a proposal that advanced practice paramedics would be endorsed to provide advanced critical care and advanced primary care in paramedicine, as well as independently prescribe scheduled medicines.
Submissions are due by 20 June.
Ahpra’s independent Accreditation Committee published two guidance documents.
Accreditation Committee Chair Professor Andrew Wilson AO said “professional capabilities outline the knowledge, skills and attributes required for safe and competent practice as a registered health practitioner in Australia. The Guidance on developing professional capabilities aims to improve the consistency of their development, supporting safer care for the public”.
The Guidance on embedding good practice in health practitioner education: clinical placements, simulation-based learning and virtual care “provides an overview of evidence-based strategies for the continuous improvement of student learning in these settings and activities”.
First Nations
Lowitja Institute CEO Paul Stewart attended the 24th session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, and called for action to increase Indigenous control and ownership of Indigenous health and population data globally.
Trade unions
Advanced Pharmacy Australia (AdPha) released a Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) Practice Update to help the pharmacy workforce be prepared for discussions that may arise about VAD.
The update includes an outline of the varying legal criteria for VAD across states and territories; guidance on conducting respectful and lawful discussions about VAD with patients, colleagues and employers; resources to support pharmacists’ wellbeing; and a checklist to assess readiness for VAD conversations.
The Australian Medical Association (AMA) released its submission to the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman’s investigation into delay and procedural safeguards for health practitioners subject to immediate action from Ahpra.
The AMA called for “balance in Ahpra’s use of immediate action against practitioners, and for the introduction of rules to ensure Ahpra cannot leave practitioners subject to immediate actions to languish for years waiting for an outcome”.
The Royal Australasian College of Physicians took the lead in a joint statement from nine colleges arguing that “delaying climate action will cost lives, hip-pockets and the public purse”.
The groups urged “whichever party forms government after 3 May to continue to defend and strengthen our healthcare system by continuing to implement the National Health and Climate Strategy”.
“This includes taking strong action to reduce emissions across all sectors and working in partnership with First Nations organisations, including Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services, to support First Nations leadership on climate change and health.”
Industry groups
Ageing Australia (the aged care providers’ lobby group) issued a statement “warning more than 830,000 older Australians receiving Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP) services will be left in limbo, following an 11th hour decision to require new service agreements, making transition to the new Aged Care Act on 1 July impossible”.
It went on “currently there are no obligations for CHSP providers to have service agreements with recipients”.
“This means that providers, already snowed under by the requirements of transitioning to the new Act, will have to create and negotiate 830,000 agreements before 1 July when the rules outlining what those agreements must look like are not yet even finalised.”
The Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association (AHHA) urged all political parties “to prioritise investment in a sustainable and resilient health workforce… that is equipped to deliver person-centred care that meets the needs of Australia’s growing and ageing population”.
AHHA said the key measures needed to support and strengthen the health workforce included:
- a coordinated whole-of-workforce strategy that integrates recommendations from existing workforce reviews and ensures intersectoral collaboration for sustainability and resilience
- building workforce capability to measure the outcomes that matter to people and communities
- enabling regional accountability and authority to drive meaningful changes to care pathways, with incentives for improving health outcomes that matter to people and communities.
The Pharmacy Guild urged Australians urged to check their vaccination status as flu and measles infections increase.
The Guild also marked the first anniversary of the Queensland Community Pharmacy Scope of Practice Pilot, which allows pharmacists to be deliver “management of a wider range of acute, everyday conditions, enhanced medication support, and expanded preventative health services”.
International organisations
At the start of World Immunization Week (24-30 April), the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and Gavi issued a joint statement warning that “immunisation efforts are under growing threat as misinformation, population growth, humanitarian crises and funding cuts jeopardise progress and leave millions of children, adolescents and adults at risk”.
WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said “vaccines have saved more than 150 million lives over the past five decades”.
“Funding cuts to global health have put these hard-won gains in jeopardy,” he said.
“Outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases are increasing around the world, putting lives at risk and exposing countries to increased costs in treating diseases and responding to outbreaks. Countries with limited resources must invest in the highest-impact interventions – and that includes vaccines.”
Meanwhile, the measles outbreak in west Texas has now affected well over 600 people in 22 counties, and almost 200 people in a number of other states.
It is not only countries with limited resources that are at risk of expensive and dangerous outbreaks.
Finally
Last year the Starmer Government in the UK introduced the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which includes a ban on tobacco sales to anyone born after 2008.
The Bill largely replicated one introduced by the Sunak Government in early 2024, which lapsed when the election was called.
The current Bill passed the House of Commons in March, and on 23 April it passed the second reading stage in the House of Lords.
The committee stage in the Lords has not yet been scheduled, but is likely to be some time in the next few months, meaning the Bill could become law later this year.
Given it has a fair degree of bipartisan support, it may prove more enduring than the New Zealand version of the law, introduced by a Labour Government and repealed by the National Party before it had taken effect.
The prospects for similar national legislation in Australia are dim. Before the 2022 election then Shadow Minister Mark Butler “made it clear that Labor has no plans to introduce laws similar to New Zealand”, and the Coalition is even less enthusiastic.
At a state level, the SA Legislative Council last year passed a Bill banning tobacco sales to anyone born after 2006, but the Bill has not progressed any further. A decade ago a similar Bill was introduced in Tasmania, but lapsed when an election was called.
Consultations and inquiries
Here is our weekly list of requests by government bodies and parliamentary committees for responses to consultations or submissions to inquiries, arranged in order of submission deadlines. Please let us know if there are any to add for next week’s column.
Department of Health and Aged Care – Gene Technology Regulator
Trial of a genetically modified (GM) vaccine for the prevention of respiratory disease in horses
28 April
Food Standards Australia New Zealand
Permitting small dogs and cats in aircraft cabins
30 April
Department of Health and Aged Care – Gene Technology Regulator
Clinical trial of a genetically modified human adenovirus for treatment of melanoma
6 May
Therapeutic Goods Administration
Proposed changes to the IVD medical device classifications and definitions
8 May
Food Standards Australia New Zealand
Egg food safety and primary production requirements
12 May
Department of Health and Aged Care – Gene Technology Regulator
Limited and controlled release of canola genetically modified for dairy protein production
13 May
Therapeutic Goods Administration
Proposed amendments to the Poisons Standard
21 May
Ahpra
Revised National Prescribing Competencies Framework
30 May
Paramedicine Board of Australia
Proposal to regulate advanced practice paramedics
20 June
Department of Health and Aged Care
Updating clinical guidelines for dementia care
31 December
Charles Maskell-Knight PSM was a senior public servant in the Commonwealth Department of Health for over 25 years before retiring in 2021. He worked as a senior adviser to the Aged Care Royal Commission in 2019-20. He is a member of Croakey Health Media; we thank and acknowledge him for providing this column as a probono service to our readers. Follow on X/Twitter at @CharlesAndrewMK, and on Bluesky at: @charlesmk.bsky.social.
