The National Health and Medical Research Council ( NHMRC ) and the Department of Health and Aged Care (the Department) (responsible for implementation of the Medical Research Future Fund, MRFF) are developing a Statement on Sex, Gender, Variations of Sex Characteristics...
Closes 15 December 2023
Welcome to the Consultation Hub for the National Nursing Workforce Strategy. Thank you for taking the time to share your views – we appreciate your time. A well-supported nursing workforce is critical to effectively addressing the health, aged and disability care needs of Australians....
Closes 20 December 2023
The Effectiveness Review of General Practice Incentives The Department of Health and Aged Care (the Department) has engaged KPMG to undertake an Effectiveness Review of General Practice Incentives. This includes considering the Practice Incentives Program (PIP) and Workforce Incentive...
Closes 22 December 2023
This form is to be completed if you wish to complete a request for a Revalidated Service for a client with the Australian Government Hearing Services Program. Please click the link below to begin your request.
Closes 10 January 2024
South Central Foundation Webinar – Nuka System of Care Date/Time Thursday 30 November 2023, 9:00am-10:30 a.m. (Australian Eastern Standard Time Intended audience Organisations and policymakers interested in First Nations health...
Closes 15 January 2024
The Office for Sport, within the Department of Health and Aged Care, is undertaking a public consultation to inform the development of a new National Sport Plan (the Plan). The Australian Government is harnessing the power of sport and physical activity to build healthy, active, connected and...
Closed 7 December 2023
The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) is consulting with stakeholders to include the monkeypox (mpox) vaccine chapter in the Australian Immunisation Handbook, with an intention to submit the chapter to the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) for its...
Closed 1 December 2023
Active Ingredient Prescribing (AIP) is mandatory for all Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) and Repatriation Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (RPBS) prescriptions. However, there are circumstances when prescribers may need to include brand name on a prescription, in addition to active ingredient. ...
Closed 13 November 2023
The Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) is a list of health professional services (items) that the Australian Government subsidises. MBS items provide patient benefits for a wide range of health services including consultations, diagnostic tests, therapy, and operations. When changes...
Closed 6 November 2023
The Australian Government values the contributions of people with lived and/or living experiences of mental ill-health. Their stories continue to drive improvements to the mental health system and services. On 30 January 2023, the Government announced $7.5 million in funding to...
Closed 3 November 2023
Here are some of the issues we have consulted on and their outcomes. See all outcomes
We asked you for your experiences, views and perspectives of health practitioners working to full scope of practice in primary care.
We received 686 online submissions from people representing a wide range of professions and roles in primary care.
The review analysts will now highlight the trends and key issues form the submissions. Together with the literature review, this will paint a comprehensive picture of the current state of scope of practice in primary care, to inform the next stages of the review.
The Department of Health and Aged Care (Department) asked for your views and input on the draft aim, outcomes and actions in the consultation draft Nurse Practitioner Workforce Plan (the Plan). The draft Plan was released for stakeholder feedback from 19 December 2022 to 10 February 2023.
Targeted meetings were also held during this time to seek feedback from stakeholder organisations. Yarning circles and a consumer focus group were also held to test the actions within the draft Plan to ensure they are realistic, implementable and well received by both First Nations peoples and consumers.
Feedback received during the consultation process is being used to refine and inform the final Plan.
In total, 215 submissions were received, comprising of 172 online survey responses, 25 written submissions via email, 15 targeted stakeholder meetings, 1 consumer focus group and 2 yarning circles.
The mix of responses from consumers, nurse practitioners, health professionals and organisations provided a comprehensive understanding of how the aim, outcomes and actions of the Plan were received. Feedback on improving the draft Plan was constructive with suggestions to refine language and review the action’s timeline. Whilst many responses were focused on the barriers to nurse practitioners providing care, the Department received useful suggestions for refining the draft Plan.
The Department undertook analysis of the online submissions (including survey and written responses) using the Citizen Space application in February 2023. The data from online and written submissions was further analysed simultaneously with stakeholder feedback from meetings, yarning circles and focus groups. This involved coding the qualitative responses for feedback on key themes and creation of analysis notes to further refine the consultation draft.
Stakeholder feedback captured is being used to refine the Plan and ensure the actions address key nurse practitioner workforce challenges. Suggestions proposed during this round of consultation will be considered by the Nurse Practitioner Steering Committee and used to develop a final version of the Plan for approval by Government.
The department asked for feedback about the core capabilities to support the Intellectual Disability Health Capability Framework (framework) in an open consultation from 22 November 2022 – 27 January 2023. The proposed framework for consultation included the following capabilities:
We asked whether people thought the framework and the core capabilities address the key areas for health students’ knowledge and practice. We also asked people to comment on the content and detail covered by each of the six capabilities.
Ninety-three submissions to the open consultation were received from a range of stakeholders including individuals, health services, peak bodies, education providers, and groups representing and serving those with intellectual disabilities. A breakdown of responses is as follows:
The results showed that overall, 77% of respondents agreed that the capability areas capture the key capabilities. The level of agreement by specific capability area ranged from 63% (Intellectual Disability Awareness) to 74% (Responsible, Safe and Ethical Practice). Submissions also proposed changes to terminology, and identified gaps in capabilities, areas where more emphasis was required, and clarification was needed. Feedback also identified potential learning outcomes and implementation ideas for the framework.
Feedback has been recorded and will be used to futher develop the framework. All submissions have been reviewed and amendments have been made to capabilities as appropriate. The following significant changes were made:
The addition of two new capabilities
Key wording changes
Following the open consultation process, a modified Delphi method will be conducted with key stakeholders to reach consensus on the core capabilities. A futher public consultation will be undertaken in September 2023 to seek feedback on the draft framework document.
We appreciate all the interest and expertise shared throughout the consultation phase and thank all stakeholders who prepared a submission.