A report on the surveillance and epidemiology of acute respiratory infections in Australia in 2024, with a focus on the nationally notifiable conditions coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Overall it finds there was high acute respiratory infection activity with moderate severity but a lower burden on health system utilisation in...

This report summarises the second annual Horizon Scanning Forum, exploring four therapeutic areas – novel vaccines for infectious diseases, novel antimicrobials, cell and gene therapies, and digital health – where innovation is rapidly outpacing regulation. The report advocates for urgent reform to ensuring timely patient access to life-saving and life-improving treatments.

A health technology assessment (HTA) involves a range of processes and mechanisms that use scientific evidence to assess health technologies for their quality, safety, efficacy, effectiveness and cost-effectiveness. This report of the HTA review makes 50 recommendations across a range of areas, including improving access to new health technologies, tackling inequity, and making HTA processes...

This report provides an assessment of state and territory performance against the benchmarks outlined in the Essential Vaccines Schedule (EVS) of the Federation Funding Agreement for the period 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023. The EVS is an agreement between the Commonwealth of Australia and the states and territories, which aims to “support the...

This report looks at excess mortality rates in Australia since 2020. The report finds that after dropping in 2020 due to strict lockdown measures, excess mortality spiked from 2021 onwards as a direct result of COVID-19. The committee has made five recommendations towards improving reporting, communication and compensation during public health crises.