Consultation Hub

The Minister for Health has committed to development of a Nurse Practitioner 10 Year Plan (Plan). The purpose of the Plan is to describe a set of actions that can be taken to address nurse practitioner workforce issues, and enhance the delivery of nursing care to the Australian community.

As part of the development of the Plan the Department of Health sought the views of stakeholders from 19 November to 20 December 2021. The purpose of the consultation was to collect ideas from a wide range of stakeholders on their perspectives, experiences and knowledge of nurse practitioners (NP) and to identify benefits, barriers and workforce solutions to inform development of the Plan.

The total submissions received was 496 with 458 online survey responses and 38 written submissions via email. Of the online survey responses, 64% (295) of respondents completed the long-form and 36% (163) the short-form survey. Of the total submissions, 430 (87%) responded as an individual and 63 (13%) responded on behalf of an organisation or institution.

The high response rate received to this open consultation was welcomed and has highlighted the interest in this work. The mix of responses from consumers, nurse practitioners, health professionals and organisations provided a comprehensive picture of current NP workforce issues.

The Department reviewed and analysed all the responses received and prepared a consultation analysis report which will be used to inform development of the Plan.

Between November 2020 and January 2021, the Department of Health sought feedback on the The Framework for the Collection, Release, Use and Publication of Voluntary Indigenous Identifier Data (VII Data Framework). Specifically, the Department asked:

1. Does the VII Data Framework clearly set out the legal and ethical obligations for data users?
2. What suggestions do you have on how the Department should communicate the legal and ethical obligations to data users?
3. Does the VII Data Framework sufficiently protect Medicare estimations and enrolment data?
4. What suggestions do you have on how VII data should be used?
5. Is the Five Safes Framework an appropriate way to assess data requests?
6. What else should be considered when assessing a request for VII data?
7. How would you assess the types of statistical data tables that can be released to data users?
8. Please include any other comments about the VII Data Framework below

Seven organisations and four individuals responded to the consultation including, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health authorities, doctor peak organisations, a nurses’ and mid-wives’ group and government agencies. Most respondents were satisfied with the VII Data Framework’s  legal and ethical obligations, protections for Medicare and enrolment data, and access and release arrangements.

Specific feedback on the VII Data Framework include:

1. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Data Sovereignty Principles need to be strengthened.
2. It should include a supplement that further clarifies a user’s legal and ethical obligations.
3. It should include a metadata document detailing technical information about the VII variables.
4. It should provide further details on what the VII can and can’t be used for.
5. Endorsement of the use of VII data in linkage or integration projects, provided an Accredited Integrating Authority conducted the linkage and all other restrictions on VII data are met (i.e. data can only be used for statistical purposes, and not to identify individuals, and must be used for health-related research and policy development).
6. Requests for VII unit record data should have approval from a Human Research Ethics Committee with expertise in evaluating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research projects.
7. Action should be taken to improve VII coverage including via data linkage and communication with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
8. Priority access should be available for planning and policy development.
9. VII data should be released at lower levels of geographic aggregation.

The Department appreciates all the feedback and thanks all respondents.

The Department has considered all responses, and these will be used to inform updates to the VII Data Framework.

1. While some information on this will be added to the VII Data Framework, Indigenous Data Sovereignty is a broader issue that the Department will address in the context of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap and in collaboration with the National Indigenous Australians Agency.
2. Additional information on legal and ethical obligations will be added to the VII Data Framework.
3. A metadata document will be included in the appendix of the VII Data Framework .
4. The VII Data Framework will include more detail on appropriate use of VII data, as well as specifying prohibited uses (e.g. to identify or target individuals).
5. Information on the circumstances guiding linkage of VII data will be included in the Framework.
6. The VII Data Framework will specify that requests for unit record data for a research project must be accompanied by approval from a Human Research Ethics Committee with expertise in evaluating research including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
7. There are currently no plans for a broad-based communications strategy, but the Department notes the work of ACCHS in this space which has supported growth in VII enrolment of 3,000 new enrolments per month on average over the last ten years.
8. While prioritising access by particular users is not currently planned, the Department continuously reviews and refines the data release process to better meet the needs of users and stakeholders.
9. Currently, MBS estimates that use the VII are available at the State/Territory, Remoteness Area and PHN levels. Lower levels of aggregation will become available as coverage increases.

We asked for your feedback on the new ARPANSA Standard for Limiting Exposure to Radiofrequency Fields – 100 KHz to 300 GHz (RPS S-1) because we want to make sure that the standard is fit for purpose and provides clear guidance to industries and regulators to ensure the safety of Australian workers and the general public including people of all ages and health status.

We received 61 submissions from a range of stakeholders, including health authorities, scientists, academic bodies and members of the general public. There were a range of technical comments, questions, and suggestions, as well as comments from members of the public expressing concern about the certainty of the science underpinning the exposure limits.

We have reviewed all submissions and made some amendments, primarily to clarify technical aspects of the Standard. The revised Standard and our responses to individual consultation comments will now undergo formal approvals prior to publication.  

The new Standard will be published on the ARPANSA website in the first quarter of 2021.