Category: Australian News

The Australian Government is continuing to improve Australia’s world leading vaccination program through the Australian Immunisation Register Amendment (Reporting) Bill 2020, which enters parliament today.
This Bill supports and builds upon the longstanding action of the successive Governments to ensure that Australians have access to safe and effective vaccines and that we maintain world leading immunisation rates.
Currently, not all vaccine providers make a record in the Australian Immunisation Register (the AIR) when a vaccine is administered, which means that individuals or health professionals may not have access to vaccination history. This information could be vital in an emergency, when undertaking medical treatment and in managing an individual’s health and wellbeing.
The effect of the amendments in the Bill is to ensure all vaccination providers report vaccines given, including any COVID-19 vaccine, to the AIR.
These changes will ensure that every Australian can access their vaccine history through this safe and secure register and support the administration of COVID-19 vaccines and other lifesaving vaccines, including those against the flu and meningococcal.
While the Government strongly supports immunisation, it is not mandatory. Vaccination will remain voluntary and individuals will retain the fundamental choice to choose not to vaccinate.
The Australian Government is a strong supporter of immunisation in that it is a safe and effective way to prevent the spread of many diseases in the community that can cause hospitalisation, serious ongoing health conditions, or even death.
The Australian Government has acted decisively to secure production and supply agreements to secure early access to 134 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine to Australians in 2021-21 and 2021-22 through an investment so far of $3.3 billion.
In addition to the significant investment in COVID-19 Vaccines, the Australian Government invests over $400 million each year though the National Immunisation Program (NIP) to protect Australians against 17 vaccine preventable diseases.
The NIP provides free vaccines to eligible people, including children, adolescents, the elderly, pregnant women and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people against conditions such as pneumococcal, meningococcal, measles, mumps, rubella, pertussis, shingles, human papillomavirus (HPV) and influenza amongst others.
The need for the Australian Immunisation Register Amendment (Reporting) Bill 2020 arose from the need to provide more Australians with information about their immunisation history, to support the roll out of a COVID-19 vaccine and the ongoing administration of the NIP.
Australia continues to have a high level of vaccination reporting and the AIR data entered is sufficiently reliable for the administration of childhood immunisations due to a number of policy and program settings which encourage reporting.
For example, Australia’s immunisation coverage rates for children continue to be at a record high, compared to the rest of the world. As at September 2020: 94.90 per cent of all Australian children aged five years and 97.03 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged five years were fully vaccinated.
However, reporting of adolescent and other adult vaccines is lower and less reliable. For example, the reporting of vaccinations against Herpes Zoster and Pneumococcal for older Australians is around 40 per cent and reporting for seasonal influenza is around 50 per cent.
The AIR provides Australians with an Immunisation History Statement (IHS) which displays all immunisations that an individual has had that are recorded on the AIR. The IHS is can be viewed and printed via Medicare Online, myGov, the Express Plus Medicare mobile app, or My Health Record. Vaccination providers can print an IHS on behalf of their patient.
Public consultation on the proposed changes indicated a high level of community support for these improvements and it is pleasing to note that key stakeholders, including health peak bodies have indicated their public support.

Ground-breaking research and world-leading facilities will be on show when the Federal Regional Health Minister visits the Australian Hearing Hub and Macquarie University in Sydney today.
Minister Mark Coulton, who suffers hearing loss due to industrial deafness, said he was thrilled to see first-hand the innovation that is achieving positive outcomes for Australians with hearing challenges.
“The Australian Hearing Hub is an awe-inspiring facility and work conducted here is actively improving the lives of people in each corner of Australia and right across the globe, and the Australian Government is proud to play a key role,” Minister Coulton said.
“Whether it is developing new teleaudiology standards to help tackle the peril of distance for rural and remote Australians or studying the feasibility of cochlear implants for seniors with profound hearing loss, the Federal Government is actively engaged with The Hub to identify future opportunities while delivering services to improve lives.”
Federal Member for Bennelong, John Alexander, whose electorate is home to The Hub, welcomed the Minister’s visit and congratulated the Hub on its work to improve the lives of deaf and hearing-impaired Australians.
“There is no denying the great work of the Australian Hearing Hub and I am particularly pleased to join the Minister to have a good look at Hearing Australia’s facilities here today. It is facilities like these that make Bennelong the Innovation Capital of Australia,” Mr Alexander said.
“I congratulate Macquarie University for their leadership in hosting the Hearing Hub and look forward to continuing to work with Hub Members to ensure this facility continues its world-leading research and education.”
The Hearing Hub unites many of the nation’s brightest researchers, educators, clinicians, and innovators with expertise in linguistics, audiology, speech pathology, cognitive and language sciences, psychology, nanofabrication, and engineering sciences
The 2020–21 Federal Budget invested $21.2 million to fund key initiatives from the sector-developed Roadmap for Hearing Health.
“This investment is delivering a national awareness campaign to prevent unnecessary hearing loss; a research grants programme; workforce initiatives in both the rural and aged care sectors; projects to reduce hearing loss in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children; and forming telehealth standards to ensure consistent and high quality hearing services,” Minister Coulton said.
Nearly four million Australians are currently affected by some form of hearing impairment, with this number expected to increase to 7.8 million people by 2060.
“Delivering the Roadmap will help ensure Australians have access to quality services and support, which is vital to prevent further hearing loss,” Minister Coulton said.
“These measures will assist Australia to continue delivering innovative and efficient hearing services, and keep our country at the forefront of excellence for hearing support.”
Alongside the Roadmap, the Australian Government will also review and improve the Hearing Services Program, which provides hearing tests, assessments, and subsidised devices to vulnerable Australians including pensioners, veterans, indigenous Australians, those with complex needs, and people in rural and remote areas.
Background
The Australian Government continues to implement projects and strategies to improve hearing health, including:

• The national rollout of innovative hearing screening tools for primary health care clinics in remote areas, through a collaboration between Hearing Australia and the Royal Flying Doctors Service
• The development of nationally-consistent clinical standards for paediatric audiology and teleaudiology by the Ear Science Institute and Audiology Australia
• Roll-out of a free sign language interpreting service for senior Australians, being delivered by Auslan Connections
• Funding the National Acoustic Laboratory to examine the clinical and economic benefits of upgrading sound processors in clients aged over 65
• A review of the Minimum Hearing Loss Threshold used under the Hearing Services Program, also being undertaken by the National Acoustic Laboratory

The Liberals and Labor have combined forces to block a Climate Emergency declaration in Australia, on the day our closest neighbours have declared a climate emergency at their Labour Prime Minister’s request.
The Australian Greens put Climate Emergency Declaration motions before the House and Senate today, with the Government blocking the vote in the House, and Labor and the Government blocking in the Senate.
Meanwhile, across the Tasman, the New Zealand Parliament today joined the many nations to declare a Climate Emergency, following a long and successful campaign from the NZ Greens.
“The first step to dealing with a problem is admitting you’ve got one. Last summer’s disastrous season of bushfires has made it abundantly clear that we’re rapidly speeding towards a climate cliff,” Mr Bandt said.
“This was a chance for Australia to show it is serious about climate action ahead of next week’s international climate summit. Thanks to the Liberals and Labor, we have failed.
“We are running out of time to stop the climate emergency, and every day counts. When the Australian population is at threat, when there is a threat to the safety and the livelihoods of our people and our country, parliament should drop everything to deal with it. Instead, the government is refusing to accept the truth about our climate.
“Declaring a Climate Emergency forces Scott Morrison to tell the truth that our current targets and the world’s current targets are not enough.
“Current projections from the Bureau of Meteorology confirm that our attempts to limit global warming to just 2 degrees are failing. Australia’s on track for 4 degrees of heating unless we increase our ambition, and do it quickly.
“This government clearly has a problem with this truth and the Greens are trying to hold them to account, but the opposition doesn’t know where it stands on the defining issue of our time. “We’re running out of time to take action. I wish Labor would decide where they stand and join us in holding this government of climate criminals to account instead of siding with the Liberals to protect Scott Morrison.
“The Labor-Green government led by Jacinda Ardern knows where they stand on the climate emergency and we welcome New Zealand joining the declaration club.

Today’s national accounts figures show that government support for people who need it most must continue, Greens economic justice spokesperson Senator Nick McKim says.
“These figures show it was government spending that propped up the rest of the economy,” Senator McKim said.
“And even then, we are still way behind where we were before the pandemic hit. Millions of Australians are unemployed or underemployed.”
“As the OECD has made clear, now is not the time for the government to cut spending.”
“Our economy being technically out of a recession means very little for the millions of Australians who are living below the poverty line because of decisions taken by this government.”
“Income support will not only save lives and save people from despair, it will help ensure a fairer, quicker economic recovery.”
 

We welcome the emergency approval given to the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in the UK. This is particularly so given the over 1.6 million cases and tragic loss of over 59,000 lives in the UK.
I have again spoken to the Australian CEO of Pfizer, they remain on track for vaccine delivery once it is approved for use in Australia by the independent regulator.
Pfizer continues to work with the Therapeutic Goods Administration, providing data for safety and efficacy as part of the approval process.
Our advice remains that the timeline for a decision on approval is expected by the end of January 2021, and our planning is for first vaccine delivery in March 2021.
Pfizer is one of four vaccines the Australian Government has purchased for a total projected supply of 134.8 million units.
In addition we will have access to up to 25.5 million units under the international COVAX facility.
Safety is our number priority and Australia is well placed both for a thorough, but rapid safety assessment and early rollout of a free, voluntary but entirely universally available COVID-19 vaccine program.
Today is an important step for the world.

The Australian Government has today introduced legislation into the Parliament to support the establishment of the Serious Incident Response Scheme (SIRS) for residential aged care.
Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians, Richard Colbeck, said the Government, through this bill, is providing safe and quality care as a priority and is putting in place stronger measures to help prevent elder abuse to protect the health and wellbeing of senior Australians.
“The Australian Government’s quality reform agenda is strengthening protections and improving delivery of safe, quality care,” Minister Colbeck said.
“The Serious Incident Response Scheme will commence from 1 April 2021 and expands the responsibilities of aged care providers to identify, record, manage, resolve and report assaults and a broader range of serious incidents in residential aged care.”
“Prioritising implementation of the SIRS is part of the Government’s rapid response to the Aged Care Royal Commission’s recommendations into COVID-19 to increase protection for residents,” Minister Colbeck said.
“It will drive quality and safety improvements in residential aged care at the individual service and broader system level.
“It will require aged care providers to manage all incidents, with a focus on the safety and wellbeing of people in aged care. Importantly, providers will need to put measures in place to prevent similar incidents from reoccurring.”
The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission will have additional resources to administer the SIRS, including receiving reports and taking proportionate regulatory action. The new legislation strengthens the Commission’s enforcement powers with civil penalties, infringement notices, enforceable undertakings, and injunctions across a range of provider responsibilities. This aligns the Commissioner’s powers with contemporary regulatory best practice.
“Significantly, the scheme will remove the current reporting exemption of incidents of abuse and aggression between aged care recipients where the alleged perpetrator has an assessed cognitive or mental impairment,” Minister Colbeck said.
The Government has invested more than $1.7 billion to support senior Australians in aged care since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, which includes a further investment of $132.2 million as part our response to the Aged Care Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety’s recommendations on COVID-19.
The Government has accepted and is acting on all six recommendations made by the Royal Commission in relation to COVID-19, including an additional $11.1 million investment in the Serious Incident Response Scheme, taking total investment to date to $67.9 million.
“The introduction of the SIRS legislation demonstrates the Government’s ongoing commitment to improving care for senior Australians and keeping them safe,” Minister Colbeck said.

Australian Greens Peace spokesperson Senator Jordon Steele-John has called for General’s Campbell and Burr to resign to enable the recommendations of the Afghan Inquiry to be implemented free from any actual or perceived conflicts of interest, and facilitate ongoing investigations by the Australian Federal Police.
General Campbell was the Commander of Joint Task Force 633 responsible for all Australian forces deployed in the Middle East, including Afghanistan, between January 2011 and January 2012. Lt. General Burr was a Commander of SASR on two separate deployments during the Afghanistan War.
“Since this report was first released, I have been clear in questioning how appropriate it is for General Campbell and General Burr to initiate the disciplinary action against commanding officers who served during the Afghanistan War,” Steele-John said.
“If this level of alleged systemic failure had occurred within a financial institution, it would be totally inappropriate for the reform of that institution to be led by an individual who hel a senior executive position during the time that alleged criminal activity occurred.
“Both General Campbell and General Burr have irresolvable conflicts of interest; it is impossible for the public to trust that commanding officers will be held to account when the process is led by the top brass who themselves held commanding roles during the period of time when many of these alleged crimes were committed.
“I’m not saying that General Campbell or General Burr were involved in any of the alleged incidents or even that they knew about them prior to the release of the Afghan Inquiry report, but that perception is undermining the process.
“Veterans who did the right thing expect that the commanders who either turned a blind eye to sanitised reporting, or failed to engage with what was happening on the ground should be held to account and so does the Australian public.
“We cannot allow defence leadership to apply one set of rules to their subordinates in the lower ranks and a different set of rules to themselves in secret.
“If General’s Campbell and Burr will not do the right thing by the Australian Defence Force, and the Australian public, and resign then Prime Minister Morrison should sack them.”

To mark World AIDS Day 2020 and support the ‘now more than ever’ theme, the Morrison Government will provide almost $6.2 million towards the ongoing battle against HIV, and has expanded access to Dovato® on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).
Today, more than 28,000 Australians are living with HIV and it is very pleasing that most have a suppressed viral load. That means they’re healthy and unlikely to pass on the virus to anyone else.
Australia’s collective and long term track record and leadership in HIV, working together to provide innovative treatments and supporting people living with HIV is respected globally, however – now more than ever – it’s important to maintain the focus.
To take us further along this path to virtual elimination and to support the health and mental wellbeing of people living with HIV, the Morrison Government will allocate:

• up to $1.5 million to the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations (AFAO) and National Association of People with HIV Australia (NAPWHA) – over two years to develop a workforce development program that increases the knowledge and skills of the workforce and contributes to a reduction in new HIV infections
• up to $750,000 to the Australian Injecting and Illicit Drug Users League (AVIL) over two years to work with its members to implement a number of projects aligned to the key priority areas of the National Strategies; and
• up to $1.4 million to the Australasian Society for HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Sexual Health Medicine (ASHM) over two years to implement a number of projects including a Hepatitis B Primary Care Referral Pilot Pathway, a trans and gender diverse health care model and review of user experience, a Primary Health Network engagement pilot and an update to the All Good online resource.

A further $2.5 million will support innovation in the sector with grants of up to $500,000 to provide positive outcomes for the National Strategies priority populations.
This funding is part of the $45.4 million investment allocated in the 2019–20 Federal Budget to implement five National Blood Borne Viruses and Sexually Transmissible Infections Strategies, including the Eighth National HIV Strategy.
This is Australia’s roadmap to help further reduce new infections and improve health outcomes.
Our goals include virtually eliminating HIV transmission in Australia by 2022, reducing mortality and morbidity related to HIV and supporting those living with HIV by reducing stigma and discrimination.
Also from today, access to the important new treatment option Dovato® (DOLUTEGRAVIR + LAMIVUDINE) on the PBS will be expanded for the treatment of people living with HIV who have already used antiretroviral therapy.
Previously this medicine was only available on the PBS for people newly diagnosed with HIV who had not had treatment. The expanded listing for the once-daily treatment gives people with HIV more treatment options.
This PBS listing is expected to benefit approximately 28,000 people living with HIV in Australia. Without subsidy, it could cost them more than $8,500 per year, however will now cost as little as $6.60 with a concession card.
This expanded listing follows the recent expansion of other important medicines for people living with HIV over recent years including expanded PBS access to Biktarvy® for children with HIV from 1 September 2020.
The Eighth National HIV Strategy is available on the Department of Health website.

South Australians will now have access to electronic prescriptions through the Morrison Government’s ongoing investment in digital health.
Since May, electronic prescriptions have been introduced across the country, with South Australia joining Victoria, the ACT and metropolitan Sydney.
So far, more than one million electronic prescriptions have been issued. This includes over 800,000 original electronic prescriptions and over 400,000 repeat tokens to patients.
Significant progress has been made to connect Australia’s healthcare system, so access to healthcare information and providers is available whenever and wherever it is needed.
The Morrison Government has committed $2.4 billion to provide all Australians with access to telehealth, with more than 30 million Medicare-eligible telehealth services delivered since March. The Government has also invested $5 million to fast track electronic prescribing, and provided $25 million to support home delivery of medicines.
The use of My Health Record by healthcare providers has also grown significantly, providing Australians with secure access to their health information.
Since March, the volume of documents uploaded by healthcare providers like hospitals, pathologists and radiologists increased by 40 per cent. Currently there are more than 275 million clinical and medicines documents in the system that were uploaded by healthcare providers.
The My Health Record system provided life-saving access to health information for Australians during the Queensland floods and last summer’s bushfires, and has been an important digital health tool during the pandemic.
Minister for Health Greg Hunt said electronic prescribing was a “critical component” of the Government’s digital health approach to COVID-19.
“Along with the rollout of telehealth, this is a critical component of the Government’s utilisation of digital health infrastructure and services, which has been brought to the fore during the summer bushfires and the COVID-19 pandemic,” Minister Hunt said.
“These initiatives are critical in delivering health services for all Australians now and into the future.”
Minister for Regional Health, Mark Coulton said e-prescribing had played a significant role assisting Australians living in regional, rural and remote areas, with their healthcare needs.
“Technology is helping to overcome the challenges of distance faced by communities in regional, rural and remote Australia when accessing healthcare and medication,” Minister Coulton said.

Labor will oppose the Morrison Government’s National Commissioner for Defence and Veteran Suicide Prevention legislation in the Senate, following a decision taken by the Caucus today.
When the Government introduced the legislation for a National Commissioner, Labor were sceptical it was not “bigger and better than a Royal Commission” as the Government claimed.
We supported referring it to a Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee inquiry so it could be thoroughly examined, and so veterans and families could have their say.
The inquiry reported back yesterday. It confirmed Labor’s, and many people’s concerns, that the National Commissioner won’t have the independence, scope or resources to ask the really hard questions only a Royal Commission can.
The overwhelming feedback from submitters and witnesses to the inquiry was that the scope of the role was too narrow and that interim National Commissioner Dr Bernadette Boss was not sufficiently independent given her long association with the Australian Defence Force.
A number of stakeholders have said we need a proper inquiry through a Royal Commission to get to the bottom of systemic problems and to propose practical solutions, which could include a body like the National Commissioner.
Unlike the Government, Labor has consulted widely with veterans and families, veteran advocates, and mental health experts.
When the Prime Minister announced the National Commissioner earlier this year, he ignored the pleas of parents like Julie-Ann Finney and Karen Bird, whose veteran sons tragically took their own lives.
These families were clear – they wanted nothing less than a Royal Commission into veteran suicide to get to the bottom of these needless deaths.
This was always going to be the real test for Scott Morrison and his legislation, and he has failed badly.
The Government needs to establish a Royal Commission into veteran suicide, so we can tackle this issue once and for all.
Our veterans and their families deserve nothing less.