The Labor government was forced to quiz two of their ambassadors for men’s health over allegedly homophobic and sexist views just one day after their appointment. Eva Cox, CPD fellow and chair of the Women’s Electoral Lobby’s national co-ordinating committee, comments on the events in this article in The Australian.
Monthly Archives:: November 2008
Reflections on CPD’s Common Ground forum on Climate Change
On Wednesday November 26th, the Centre for Policy Development hosted out third ‘Common Ground’ forum. There were discussions on climate change based around the theme ‘Australia should lead not follow’. Speakers and panelists included Bob Carr (former Premier, NSW), Pru Goward (NSW Shadow Minister for Climate Change), Fiona Wain (Environment Business Australia), Steve Hatfield-Dodds (former CSIRO, now Department of Climate … more
One Year On: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
CPD fellow James Arvanitakis writes: Most of us would rather not know how two things in life are made: sausages and policy. As a vegetarian, I am not really interested in sausages, but you cannot escape government policy. more
Bringing Health Care back to Local Communities
Tim Woodruff, David Legge, Rod Wilson, and Fiona Armstrong propose a new model for healthcare funding and administration to address the inequities and inefficiencies in our health system: We propose shifting the focus of the health system to a regional level, where locally determined health data and the input of local communities are used to drive change. It is a proposal for significant structural change which also allows for gradual introduction to allow capacity building, and the retention of the many excellent elements of the current health system. It uses the equitable and evidence based distribution of funds to locally governed entities to address both inequity and inefficiency. more
Making Health Policy with Kevin Rudd
CPD fellow Jennifer Doggett has been trawling the health policy reviews through Rudd’s first year: It is a truth universally acknowledged that a new government in possession of a reform agenda must be in want of a Taskforce (or a Commission…or a review…or a policy committee). The Rudd Government is no exception to this rule having established, in its first year of office, taskforces, policy reviews, commissions and consultation processes in almost every area of the health system. It is not surprising that health interest groups feel like they have done little else during 2008 than prepare submissions and appear in front of committees. more
Motivating Residential Energy Conservation
CPD fellow Mark Connelly reviews the Rudd Government’s performance on residential energy conservation: Under the recommendations of the Garnaut Climate Change Review, residential electricity prices are projected to rise by 21 to 31 per cent by 2020. The review recommends mitigation strategies for low-income households, but there is little discussion of helping Australians change their energy use behaviour to reduce consumption. If Australians can be assisted and motivated to reduce their household energy consumption, they may be able to mitigate the projected increase in their electricity bill, while contributing to the overall reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. more
A Rather Too Conservative First Year
CPD fellow Eva Cox assesses the Rudd Government’s performance on Indigenous issues, income support, child care and parental leave: Rudd has apologised to the Stolen Generation, signed Kyoto and fixed some of the worst conditions for asylum seekers. These actions seemed to suggest a serious change in political directions, but other signs show he is leading a government designed to avoid scaring off the Howard voters. This is worrying as the social agenda of the government could be defined as a more modern form of social conservativism, with some residual neo-liberal tendencies. It lacks the fire and imagination that would challenge some of the retrograde social assumptions that drove most of the last government’s policies. more
The Best and Worst in Health
Stephen Leeder and Lesley Russell review the Rudd Government’s year in health policy: The Rudd Government’s first year has brought a mixed record in health policy – a grab-bag of small, uncoordinated initiatives have been announced, but major election commitments to reform remain unfulfilled, awaiting reports from a raft of advisory groups. more
Are Doctors the Cornerstones of Primary Health Care?
Are doctors the cornerstones of primary health care?, asks Tim Woodruff in his address to the Victorian Healthcare Association Conference. ‘If they are currently, they shouldn’t be. Patients should be. The fact that we have in this country a health system which uses a funding system for primary care centred around funding providers – not patients, not need – is a sad reflection that patients are no longer the cornerstone of primary care.’ more