Month: January 2022

Locals interested in a health care career will soon be able to study in the Central Highlands of Queensland, with the Federal Coalition Government today announcing a University Department of Rural Health (UDRH) will be established in Emerald.
The Nationals in Government are providing $10 million to James Cook University (JCU) to establish the UDRH, which will offer education and training for allied health students to train locally.
The new facility will also improve the distribution of health workforce in the region, and provide more access to healthcare professionals for local patients.
During a visit to Emerald today, Federal Regional Health Minister, Dr David Gillespie and Member for Flynn, Ken O’Dowd said the new centre would be a boon for regional Queensland.
“The establishment of the Central Queensland Centre for Rural and Remote Health (CQCRRH) in Emerald will build on their success with educating students in regional, rural and remote locations and give students access to tertiary education and training locally,” Mr O’Dowd said.
“We know people who study and have a positive training experience in the bush are more likely to stay and practice in the bush.
“By establishing these outreach university departments, the Liberal and Nationals Government is demonstrating its commitment to the health of every Australian, regardless of where they live.”
Minister Gillespie, a former regional doctor for more than 30 years, said this new campus was the 17th UDRH in regional Australia but only the 3^rd in Queensland.
“Our Government is acutely aware of the need to boost regional workforce and training opportunities, which is why we focus on establishing these UDRHs where there are gaps in what health care training people can access locally, Dr Gillespie said.
CQCRRH will firstly establish training sites in Emerald and service-learning outreach in the surrounding Gemfields regions, strongly focused on primary care.
“Initial courses planned for rollout include nursing, first and final years of pharmacy, occupational therapy, entry to practice psychology, and a Diploma of Education,” Mr O’Dowd said.
Dr Gillespie said the UDRH will be locally led, and expansion beyond Emerald to Biloela is already planned for 2023.
Mr O’Dowd said it was pleasing that JCU will purchase housing in Emerald to provide accommodation facilities for allied health, nursing, midwifery, and dental students from other areas to undertake clinical placements locally.
Dr Gillespie said the $10 million was provided under the Coalition Government’s Rural Health Multidisciplinary Training (RHMT) program.
“Right across regional Australia, the RHMT program offers health students the opportunity to train in rural and remote communities via a network of training facilities,” he said.
The new UDRH will also undertake targeted enrolment, mentoring and support strategies for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students; build Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership roles in RHMT activities and will contribute to improved local health outcomes of rural and remote communities, particularly for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

The Greens (WA) are committed to ensuring everyone is able to access health supports when they need it.
The Greens (WA) are calling on the WA State Government to commit to providing people with more support before opening up Western Australia to interstate and international visitors.
The 11 point plan, announced by Australian Greens Health Spokesperson Senator Jordon Steele-John and Greens (WA) Health Spokesperson Brad Pettitt MLC, will ensure everyone is able to access prevention measures, and the financial and health supports they need to recover from COVID-19.
The plan includes:

1. Rapid antigen tests (RATs) and N95 masks are readily available to households including through an online ordering system, with delivery to home, or collection from GP or pharmacy.
2. State Government to urgently provide First Nations communities with the resources and funding needed to address issues around vaccine supply, distribution, hesitancy and education. All solutions must be led by communities and elders, not the police or the Australian Defence Force.
3. Increased community health campaign to ensure as many people as possible are able to receive their vaccinations, including First Nations people, children, and disabled people.
4. State Government to ensure all households receive clear communication on how to prepare for and look after yourself and others when diagnosed with COVID-19.
5. State Government to provide payments to support people to remain in isolation while awaiting the result of a PCR test, and after testing positive to a PCR test or RAT ($320 while awaiting the result, and $320 after testing positive).
6. State Government to provide lost income support to individuals who do not have access to leave arrangements while recovering from COVID-19 ($500 per 7 days required to isolate) and release details of WA’s small business assistance grant.
7. State Government to provide payments to individuals to support them if they are required to quarantine out-of-home.
8. Grants to businesses to improve ventilation (including installing fans and carbon dioxide monitors) and installation of HEPA filters.
9. WA Health to provide support for those who experience long COVID, including the establishment of specialist post-COVID clinics to bring together a range of healthcare professionals, and increased provision of allied health services.
10. WA Health to continue to list exposure sites and have a RAT reporting system, including positive cases confirmed by RAT in daily numbers.
11. Funding to ensure that COVID positive asymptomatic carers, including in aged-care and disability care, are not required to care for non-COVID positive people (can care for COVID positive people).

Senator Jordon Steele-John said:
“The Greens are committed to equitable access to healthcare. The WA State Government must be committed to ensuring everyone is able to access masks and rapid antigen tests. We cannot have the situation that has been unfolding over east, where only the rich are able to access basic preventative health supports.”
“Our Greens plan would give everyone a payment of $320 if they test positive to COVID-19. This is an acknowledgment of the increased costs that come with a positive diagnosis, including delivery costs of food and medicines.”
“We are also calling on the WA Government to commit to keeping up contract tracing systems, and ensuring that asymptomatic COVID positive carers will not be permitted to care for people who do not have COVID-19. This practice has put many disabled people, older people and immunocompromised people at risk over east.” 
Brad Pettitt MLC said:
“This plan is an opportunity to use WA’s record $5.6 billion budget surplus to invest in our community and ensure everyone has access to the supports they need to stay safe from COVID-19.
“Doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals have said repeatedly that WA hospitals are already overwhelmed. We must provide support for people to be able to isolate and best manage COVID-19 from home where possible.
“What’s happening over east right now could very likely play out in WA. Medical experts are telling us that our health system is not equipped to deal with the wave of COVID-19 that is inevitably coming.
“We are now less than three weeks away from WA opening its borders. If WA is unable to address the massive RAT shortages, get more kids aged 5 to 11 vaccinated, and put COVID financial supports in place before 5th February, the border opening date should be delayed.”

Greens Leader, Adam Bandt, says revelations in the Oxfam report that Australian billionaires have doubled their already obscene fortunes gives strength to the Greens’ proposal for a 6% annual tax on billionaires’ wealth.
Over the course of the pandemic, while people endured lockdowns and hardship, billionaires doubled their wealth to $255 billion, equivalent to the wealth of 7.7 million Australians, held by just 47 people.
Greens leader, Adam Bandt MP said:
“The Greens are the only party taking progressive tax reform to this election.
“While everyone else was doing it tough during the pandemic, Australia’s billionaires made out like bandits and it’s time they paid tax on their obscene wealth.
“The numbers are clear: we need a billionaires tax and a corporate super-profits tax.
“If billionaire corporations paid their fair share of tax, we could fix the housing crisis and get free dental and mental health into Medicare.
“In balance of power after this election, the Greens will kick the Liberals out and push the next government to introduce a billionaires tax.”

Greens Leader, Adam Bandt, says workers deserve to be safe at work, backing ACTU calls to ensure worker safety.
Bandt, a former industrial relations lawyer, rejected the claim by some employers that the demands were a threat to business, saying that ensuring workers’ safety is the best way to keep businesses going as the virus continues to spread.
Greens leader, Adam Bandt MP said:
“If a workplace is unsafe, workers have the right to stop work.
“Governments should have thought more about worker safety before letting Omicron rip.
“It’s workers who keep our economy and supply chains going and it is vital that all workers are protected.
“Free RAT tests, upgraded masks and improved ventilation should be a priority in workplaces.
“Keeping workers safe is key to securing supply chains and supporting businesses through Omicron.”

As part of a major national rollout of mental health services, a Head to Health centre is now open in Darwin. People living in the Darwin region seeking assistance for their mental health will have access to critical additional services providing quality support.
Minister for Health and Aged Care, Greg Hunt, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, David Coleman and Senator for the Northern Territory, Dr Sam McMahon, today welcomed the official opening of Darwin’s new Head to Health centre at 16 Scaturchio Street, Casuarina.
“We know that the pandemic has had a significant impact on the mental health and wellbeing of many Australians,” Minister Hunt said.
“Making sure people have access to quality mental health services no matter where they live is a Morrison Government priority.
“The Government’s investment in Head to Health centres like this one in Darwin will boost mental health and wellbeing access and support. It will save lives and improve lives.”
The services provided at the Casuarina centre are recovery focused, trauma informed and person-centred.
Assistant Minister David Coleman said, “Head to Health centres are designed to provide a welcoming, low stigma, ‘no wrong door’ entry point for adults to access mental health information, services and supports.
“For local residents, better access to a multidisciplinary team operating over extended hours, without needing a prior appointment or paying a fee, makes it easier to ask for and get help, Assistant Minister Coleman said.
“The opening of this centre seeks to ensure people in Darwin and the region have access to culturally appropriate, high quality, person-centred care—where and when they need it. It is a place where people can come to rest, yarn and heal.
“The centre will provide a safe place for people experiencing high levels of distress, or who are at heightened risk of suicide.”
Senator for the Northern Territory, Dr Sam McMahon welcomed the opening of the new centre and said, “It will help people get the support they need by providing care where there aren’t any available services appropriate to their needs or while they are waiting to be connected to longer-term care.”
“Our Government is committed to improving mental health services across Australia and here in the Northern Territory.  To do so, we have invested considerable funding to improve services now and into the future,” Dr McMahon said.
“This centre will integrate with other services to address fragmentation and offer seamless care pathways, with an emphasis on ensuring consumers and carers do not need to retell their story.”
Minister Hunt said the new Head to Health Darwin centre will also play an essential role in the community by supporting local GPs, private and public hospitals and emergency departments by providing accessible mental health care.
Assistant Minister Coleman confirmed the Morrison Government’s commitment to working towards zero suicides and transforming the mental health system to ensure that all Australians can access the right care and essential services whenever and wherever they need.
The service has been commissioned by the Northern Territory Primary Health Network and will be operated by Neami National in partnership with Larrakia Nation.
As part of the 2019–20 Budget, the Government committed $114.5 million to fund the trial of eight ‘Head to Health’ Adult Mental Health Centres, with one centre to be established in each state and territory, including $14 million for Darwin Head to Health.
An additional $487.2 million was announced under the 2021–22 Budget to expand the program to an additional 32 sites (eight new centres and 24 satellites) and provide ongoing funding for the initial eight trial sites.
The Morrison Government is providing unprecedented funding and support for mental health, investing a record $2.3 billion in the National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Plan, delivering significant reform of the mental health system and ensuring all Australians have access to high quality, person-centred care.
Australians looking for support throughout the COVID-19 pandemic can access the Beyond Blue Coronavirus Wellbeing Support Service any time via telephone at 1800 512 348 or online at coronavirus.beyondblue.org.au.
Anyone experiencing distress can also seek immediate advice and support through Lifeline
(13 11 14), Kids Helpline (1800 55 1800), or the Government’s digital mental health gateway, Head to Health.
If you are concerned about suicide, living with someone who is considering suicide, or bereaved by suicide, the Suicide Call Back Service is available at 1300 659 467 or www.suicidecallbackservice.org.au