Primary care in Australia is a renovator’s opportunity. Avoidable hospital admissions cost the health system more than $320 million each year. Providing better care for people with diabetes, asthma, heart disease and other chronic conditions could save a significant proportion of this, as well as improving the working and social lives of the people affected...

Australia should introduce a tax on sugary drinks to recoup some of the costs of obesity to the community. The best option is an excise tax of 40 cents per 100 grams of sugar, on all non-alcoholic, water-based drinks that contain added sugar. Such a tax would increase the price of a two-litre bottle of...

The review was a detailed and extensive analysis into how the Department of Health & Human Services oversees and supports quality and safety of care across the Victorian hospital system. It consulted widely, seeking the views and experiences of patients, clinicians, hospital managers and boards about how to make Victoria's healthcare systems safer. It highlights...

Hospitalisation rates for diabetes, tooth decay and other conditions that should be treatable or manageable out of hospital show how Australia’s health system is consistently failing some communities. Places such as Frankston and Broadmeadows in Victoria and Mount Isa and Palm Island in Queensland have had potentially preventable hospitalisation rates at least fifty percent above...

Ineffective management of heart disease, asthma, diabetes and other chronic diseases costs the Australian health system more than $320 million each year in avoidable hospital admissions. At best, the Australian primary care system provides only half the recommended care for many chronic conditions. Only a quarter of the nearly one million Australians diagnosed with type...