The federal government is driving a wide-ranging health reform agenda. With increased healthcare costs due to the ageing of the Australian population, as well as ongoing state/federal health funding issues, the reforms aim to improve health outcomes while ensuring the sustainability of the health system.

With changes to the funding and planning arrangements of health services, it is crucial to identify potential impacts for AFAO member organisations' delivery of primary health care services for people living with HIV and for the provision of prevention and health promotion programs for affected communities. AFAO has been actively engaged in providing feedback on key aspects of the health reform agenda:

Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record (PCEHR)

AFAO continues to monitor the roll-out of e-health reforms - the PCEHR being the central piece. We focus on identifying issues for people living with HIV relating to the sharing of health records among health and allied health-care professionals, including maintaining privacy and protecting from discrimination. For further information on this see the following documents:

Briefing paper: HIV, Privacy and E-health AFAO Briefing Paper (PDF, 213 KB)

This Briefing Paper explores some of the benefits that people living with HIV stand to gain from the new e-health proposals, as well as areas for further attention

Submission to the NEHTA re Draft Concept of Operations - Relating to the introduction of the PCEHR system (PDF, 186 KB)

This submission analyses how operational and organisational structures may unintentionally limit individuals' control of their own health records and the importance of providing clear information to individuals explaining the workings of the PCEHR. The submission calls for adequate funding for community-based organisations to help provide information to their communities.

Medicare Locals and Local Hospitals Network

AFAO is monitoring the roll-out of these reforms, identifying issues regarding the introduction of the Local Hospital Network and Medicare Locals that may affect NGOs' delivery of primary health care services for people living with HIV, and the provision of prevention and health promotion programs for the most affected communities.

It is crucial to guard against fragmentation of services, while ensuring a continued consistency of approach in prevention and health promotion messaging in the new health framework. It is important to consider issues around the role and composition of Governing Councils of the Local Health Networks and of the Medicare Locals, focussing on how the Commonwealth may facilitate development of best practice governance that ensures the effective and nationally consistent implementation of the National HIV Strategy and the other BBV and STI Strategies.

For further information download:

Medicare Locals Discussion Paper on Governance and Functions (PDF 59 KB)