Responding to the needs of people who are most at risk of poor health outcomes is a priority for governments and communities across Australia. While definitions vary, there is widespread agreement in the literature that the commissioning of health services is more than traditional planning, funding and procurement. It is the process for deciding how...

The rising prevalence of chronic disease requires a concerted focus to better integrate care and to achieve better health outcomes and greater system efficiencies. Achieving and evaluating these improved patient outcomes and system efficiencies will take both time and investment, and will challenge existing models of care. This paper examines the Health Care Home program...

The disease burden of dental caries among children is substantial. Children, particularly those under 10 years of age, experience a high rate of potentially preventable hospitalisations compared with other age groups. This is despite strong evidence that early risk assessment, timely and regular dental care can be less costly and more effective than usual models...

Overview

Government and business leaders have proposed a range of possible “transition” mechanisms to ease the economic hardship, and defuse political anger, following the Fair Work Commission’s decision to cut penalty rates for work on Sundays and public holidays in the retail and hospitality industries. This briefing note critically reviews several of these proposals.