The first part of this report introduces the legislative environment affecting consumer privacy in Australia, and some background to the introduction of health-specific legislation relating to health information and consumer privacy. The second part summarises priority issues for consumers arising from the introduction of the act; the third section suggests possible methods of communicating with...

The aim of this project was to investigate whether and how consumers and community groups would like to be involved in quality improvement initiatives undertaken at the Flinders Medical Centre, to explore issues for consumers which may inhibit or enhance their participation, and to use findings of the investigation to develop a consumer participation model...

This report from the Centre for Development and Innovation in Health, Latrobe University, presents the findings and conclusions of the final impact evaluation of the NRCCPH. It is the last stage of a three year evaluation. The evaluation methodology included document analysis of a range of reports, surveys of users and working group members of...

The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme has served the Australian community well, according to Jan Donovan In this article she argues that increases in the present system of 'copayments' for medicines will not contribute to improving the equity, effectiveness or efficiency of the health system, particularly for those using the health system most.

During the decade 1991-2001, the number of drugs prescribed under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme increased by 50 per cent, the price per script rose by more than 120 per cent and costs to the government soared from $1 billion to over $4 billion. In this article Ken Harvey summarises the fifty-year history of the PBS...