The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing recently released its 2025-26 annual report, and said it demonstrates an ongoing commitment to transparency and accountability. Not when it comes to Freedom of Information requests, says our columnist.
The Department also released a survey of more than 44,000 residents across 2,589 aged care homes, conducted in 2025, which found 89 percent would recommend their aged care home to others, up from 85 percent in 2023.
Other topics covered this week include voluntary assisted dying, sunscreen regulation, a call for nominations to several National Health and Medical Research Council advisory committees, and a damning report from the Commonwealth Ombudsman on the aged care Integrated Assessment Tool.
Meanwhile, vegetable intake is down, and energy drink consumption is booming.
The quotables?
It is probably too much to hope for any public accountability for this litany of failure.”
AND
Opportunistic corporate providers are deeply entrenched and commercial interests enjoy substantial protections.”
Charles Maskell-Knight writes:
On Monday 26 October, the Commonwealth Ombudsman released his report on an investigation into the aged care Integrated Assessment Tool (IAT).
Entitled Automation and oversight in Aged Care: Flaws in the design and operation of the Single Assessment System (SAS), the report is scathing about the performance of the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing (DHDA).
The Ombudsman’s first recommendation was “the Government, with the assistance of DHDA, introduce a bill to amend the Aged Care Act 2024 to allow assessment delegates to substitute their own decision for that of an automated IAT decision in appropriate circumstances” – i.e. to allow human override of the assessment tool at the initial decision point.
In its response, DHDA “noted” this recommendation – which is appropriate insofar as DHDA cannot commit the Government to legislation – but the supporting text made it clear that the Government is committed to an escalation pathway for decision review, not a process to substitute erroneous decisions at the initial decision point.
While most of the other recommendations are directed to DHDA and accepted or “accepted-in principle” (which offers a lot of wiggle-room), the Ombudsman also recommended that the Australian National Audit Office “consider undertaking a performance audit in relation to the implementation of the SAS and the design of the IAT, and in doing so, assesses whether the Department’s use of public resources was efficient, economical and ethical”.
This is one of the most damning recommendations I can recall in an Ombudsman’s report.
The Ombudsman found inter alia:
the actions of DHDA in its administration of the SAS, including the implementation of the IAT, have been unreasonable
a reasonable person would lack confidence that the system is in fact fair and consistent
DHDA has not complied with Recommendations 17.1 and 17.2 of the Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme regarding transparency of government automated decision-making
Information provided by DHDA to the public suggests that key trials and consultation over several years directly supported the IAT and its associated decision-making framework in its current form, but that is not correct. Those trials and consultation related to earlier versions of the IAT and earlier legislation
DHDA implemented the IAT in its current form without any meaningful risk assessment, evaluation or analysis, despite the obvious risks that would arise with deterministic automated decision-making
DHDA did not, and may still not, understand key components of the legal framework it created, nor did it understand what legal framework it was meant to create.
It is probably too much to hope for any public accountability for this litany of failure.
Health Minister Mark Butler issued an incredible statement saying “the Government welcomes the Ombudsman’s inquiry into the Single Assessment System”, and repeating the standard lines about the Government “listening” to concerns and adapting the system accordingly.
The record suggests that the Government only listens when the chorus of complaint and disapproval turns into a deafening roar.
Aged Care Minister Sam Rae was interviewed by Patricia Karvelas on ABC TV’s Afternoon Briefing on the day the report was released.
After Rae described the Ombudsman’s recommendations as “constructive” and noted “many of them the Government has already put into motion prior to the report being published”, the following exchange took place:
KARVELAS: But the most significant [recommendation], which hasn’t been adopted by the Government, is the one calling for a human override. Why won’t you accept it?
RAE: To be fair, PK, that’s what the escalation pathway that we announced some time ago, and indeed was legislated in the Parliament last sitting week, that’s what it provides for. It provides for in circumstances where people’s complex conditions can’t be appropriately assessed using the IAT – that those can be escalated and there can be an alternate clinically informed approach to determining the best care for those folks.
KARVELAS: But that’s not this recommendation. It’s for a broader human override, and you haven’t accepted that recommendation.
RAE: I think it’s consistent – principally consistent.
I’m not sure whether Rae deserves points for bravado or obtuseness.
Interviewed by Sally Sara on Radio National, Shadow Minister Anne Ruston said that “we’ve been raising pretty much all of the concerns that have been raised by the Ombudsman for a very long time”.
“So we’re really hopeful that now the Government has this independent report, it will actually listen and see that its algorithm process is fundamentally flawed,” Ruston said.
“It says that any reasonable person would not think the system is fair and wouldn’t have confidence in it, and that they haven’t been transparent in what they’ve told the public… that this algorithm does and doesn’t do.
“It’s a very damning report. We can only hope that the Government, now that they’ve got this, will actually take notice of the Ombudsman, because they certainly haven’t been taking notice of Parliament.”
The Older Persons Advocacy Network said it “welcomed the Ombudsman’s recommendations, including measures to strengthen human override of assessment decisions, and looked forward to contributing to the independent review of the IAT announced this month”.
COTA CEO Patricia Sparrow said “the Ombudsman’s findings are deeply concerning, but unfortunately won’t come as a surprise to the many older Australians who have experienced problems with the system”.
“We’ve been saying from the start that experienced assessors need to be able to use their professional judgement when an automated decision doesn’t reflect the needs of the person that has been assessed,” she said.
“It’s disappointing that the Government has stopped short of accepting the Ombudsman’s recommendations to give assessors those powers.”
As reported in Health Services Daily, DHDA deputy secretary for ageing and aged care, Sonja Stewart, told Senate estimates on 28 October that “Government has acknowledged and tasked work around a review of the algorithms, the priority, and the classification algorithms that work with the IAT”.
“But in terms of its robust testing and its application, I have a level of confidence in that,” Stewart said.
“It is not to say that we don’t continually think about the IAT, think about continuous improvement, but I’ve got a high degree of confidence with the IAT.”
Secretary Blair Comley PSM later clarified that response, saying “we have confidence in the algorithm being well tested”.
Senate estimates was also told that the software underpinning the IAT did have the capability for manual override at the initial decision point, and that this capability was operational for some time after the new system was implemented.
On Saturday 30 October, Rick Morton reported in The Saturday Paper that “a briefing to state bureaucrats shows the new NDIS needs assessment tool will be almost identical to the dangerously flawed aged-care tool criticised by the Commonwealth Ombudsman this week”.
You couldn’t make this up!
Ministers and government
In March this year Minister Butler announced “from January 2027, the Commonwealth Government will commence a pharmacy trial outside of the PBS, so concession card holders can access cheaper contraceptives and treatments for uncomplicated UTIs that are prescribed by qualified pharmacists”.
On 26 October, he announced the trial would be expanded to cover all women, meaning “an estimated 900,000 Australian women could now benefit from the 12-month trial once it rolls out from early next year”.
Under the trial the Government “will cover pharmacist consultation costs, providing substantial savings of up to $38 per visit and women will pay no more than $25 per script [or $7.70 for concession cardholders]”.
The Pharmacy Guild welcomed the announcement.
By way of contrast, GP Dr Max Mollenkopf posted on LinkedIn “probably just skip medication safety altogether at this point and put hormones and antibiotics back into supermarket chicken – that’s even less annoying than having to see a GP for safe prescribing”.
For more commentary, see this Healthed article, and for a more disinterested analysis of the Government’s decision, see this article in The Conversation, ‘How is access to UTI treatment and the pill changing? And is the policy backed by evidence?’.
Although the House of Representatives met for four days from 26 October, the Government’s second attempt to legislate to align private health insurance premiums rebates for different age groups did not progress.
An article in The Conversation, by a team led by Professor Yuting Zhang from the University of Melbourne, concluded that allowing pensioners to keep the higher rebates (as proposed by the Coalition, the Greens, and the Australian Medical Association) “would mostly protect comfortable part-pensioners, while missing younger families who are struggling most”.
The article says “the evidence supports passing the bill as it is, but if concessions are made, they should target those on low incomes, regardless of age”.
DHDA released its 2025-26 Annual Report, saying it “highlights our key achievements over the past year ending 30 June 2026 [and] demonstrates our ongoing commitment to transparency, accountability, and supporting the Government’s priorities”.
DHDA’s approach to transparency is exemplified by its approach to reporting on Freedom of Information requests.
Rather than simply publishing the data in the Annual Report, it directs readers to either www.oaic.gov.au, www.transparency.gov.au, or www.data.gov.au – all of which require a reader to navigate their way through a complicated set of menus in search of the data.
After I eventually reached the data for FOI requests determined in the first three quarters of 2025-26, I found DHDA:
granted full access to 12.6 percent of requests (compared with 18.4 percent across the public service as a whole)
granted partial access to 47.5 percent (54.6 percent across the service)
refused access to 40.0 percent (27.0 percent across the service).
The Annual Report provoked a media statement from Better Access Australia, claiming “Health Department admits GLP-1s improving Australia’s health with reductions in NDSS registrations”, and calling for the Government to “hash out a pricing solution that is fair to the industry and fair to the taxpayer to get these medicines on the PBS”.
What DHDA actually said is: “The expanded use of GLP-1 inhibitors and the success of public health programs may be contributing to lower demand for NDSS products. At present, there is insufficient data to determine the extent to which these potential factors have influenced the need for NDSS products.”
DHDA also released the results of the 2025 aged care residents’ experience survey. More than 44,000 residents across 2,589 aged care homes took part in the survey, which found:
89 percent would recommend their aged care home to others, up from 85 percent in 2023
93 percent said they have a say in daily activities, up from 87 percent in 2023
96 percent said they are treated with respect, feel safe and find staff kind and caring
85 percent were satisfied with staff follow-up when they raised issues.
It found food and dining remained the lowest-scoring area, with 69 percent of residents reporting positive experiences, similar to 2023.
Ahead of International Day of People with Disability (3 December), DHDA released a new Yarning Guide to help start conversations in First Nations communities about disability.
DHDA, together with the NHMRC, sought nominations for the following joint advisory committees from people with an interest in research and a passion for improving health outcomes:
NHMRC-Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) Consumer Advisory Group
NHMRC-MRFF Indigenous Advisory Group
NHMRC-MRFF Industry, Philanthropy and Commercialisation Committee
NHMRC-MRFF Public Health and Health Systems Committee.
Nominations close on 20 November.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) announced measures “to strengthen sunscreen regulation to improve confidence in Sun Protection Factor (SPF) claims”.
These include:
Strengthening sunscreen testing requirements to improve confidence and reliability of SPF claims
Developing quality requirements for specific sunscreen ingredients to help ensure sunscreen products that include those ingredients are of high quality and will perform as expected
Limiting the SPF claims that cosmetic sunscreens can make so that there is clear distinction for consumers between sunscreens that are used for a primary purpose of UV protection and secondary (cosmetic) sunscreens
Reviewing sunscreen good manufacturing practice (GMP) guidance to clarify expectations and responsibilities, strengthen manufacturing outcomes, and support continued confidence in the quality and performance of sunscreen products in Australia.
The Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA) welcomed the TGA’s proposals.
PHAA CEO Adjunct Professor Terry Slevin said “the main message is that sunscreens work, they help prevent skin cancer, and people in Australia should not lose faith in them”.
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) released the latest monthly data on young people in residential aged care (showing a continued slow decline) and PBS prescriptions.
It also released a report on palliative care services including 2024-25 data.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released 2025 data on Causes of death, Intentional self-harm (suicide) deaths, and Deaths from external causes (such as assaults, accidents, and drugs and alcohol, rather than illness).
The data showed dementia continued to be leading cause of death in Australia, and accounted for just over 10 percent (19,019) of all deaths in 2025.
ABS head of mortality statistics Lauren Moran said “with an ageing population, we expect the number of deaths to increase over time, even as death rates decline relative to population size”.
“The COVID-19 pandemic temporarily disrupted that pattern, but these rates indicate that Australia’s mortality patterns are returning to the long-term trend of declining death rates.”
Suicide remained the leading cause of premature death for both males and females in 2025.
Dementia Australia CEO Professor Tanya Buchanan said: “Despite the growing impact of dementia, investment in specific services, supports and prevention have not kept the same pace, and the stigma that surrounds dementia continues. This needs to change.”
Suicide Prevention Australia (SPA) said the data showed “technicians and trade workers had the highest rates of suicide at 41.8 per 100,000, with other occupations also showing disproportionately high rates”.
Suicide Prevention Australia CEO, Nieves Murray said: “We’ve long recognised the importance of services that respond to people’s individual needs, and we’re seeing progress in this area.
“Male-focused services for example are having a positive impact, showing the value of targeted approaches.
“Now we need to build on this progress by reaching other at-risk populations through the channels and insights available to us, including workplaces. This is a significant opportunity to connect more people with the right support and make a meaningful difference.”
The ABS also released Apparent Consumption of Selected Foodstuffs 2024-25.
ABS head of health and disability statistics Julie Watkinson said “fruit consumption increased by 1.4 percent [compared with 2023-24], driven mainly by oranges, kiwifruit and grapes, while vegetable consumption fell by 1.7 percent”.
She added “bottled water consumption increased by five percent to 148 mL per person per day, while energy drinks rose by 18 percent to 16 mL per person per day”.
“Since 2018-19, consumption of energy drinks has increased by more than 80 percent.”
Ahpra released its Annual Report, saying across the 2025-26 financial year it received 12,698 notifications about registered health practitioners and completed action on a record 13,171 notifications.
Ahpra CEO Justin Untersteiner said “we completed more notifications than at any time in the National Scheme’s history, while reducing the number of long-running matters”.
“That means earlier answers for patients and practitioners, and a regulatory system better able to focus on the risks that can cause the greatest harm,” he said.
Ahpra said it was “working with Government and regulatory partners to address emerging risks in areas such as medicinal cannabis prescribing and the compassionate release of superannuation for healthcare”.
Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) opened the second round of consultation of a proposal to require the application of the Health Star Rating (HSR) system to most packaged foods sold in Australia and New Zealand.
FSANZ said a mandatory HSR system is expected to:
improve the consistency, comparability and accessibility of nutrition information
address limitations of the voluntary approach
strengthen consumer trust
provide greater regulatory certainty for industry and enforcement agencies.
It added “evidence considered by FSANZ indicates consumers appreciate the simplicity of the HSR system and understand that more stars indicate a healthier food relative to a food with fewer stars”.
“Mandating the HSR system would make it more widely available across products, improving consumers’ ability to compare foods. Modelling also shows there is good overall alignment of the HSR algorithm with dietary guidelines.”
Consultation closes on 23 December.
The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission also released its Annual Report, saying it included for the first time complaints data for individual aged care providers and residential aged care homes.
Commission Liz Hefren-Webb said the data should be interpreted in the context of the provider and the services it delivers.
“Complaint numbers do not, by themselves, provide a complete measure of the quality or safety of care. They should be considered alongside other relevant information, including the size of the provider and the types of services it delivers.”
Home care provider Trilogy Care PL took the prize with 558 complaints, in a canter from DPG Services PL (aka Opal residential care) with 423.
Consumer and public health groups
Go Gentle said Health Ministers from Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, Western Australia and the ACT had written to Minister Butler and Commonwealth Attorney-General Michelle Rowland calling on them “to urgently amend the Criminal Code Act 1995 to ensure lawful VAD (voluntary assisted dying) services can be delivered as intended under state and territory legislation”.
(Amendments to the Criminal Code introduced in 2005 to criminalise the promotion of suicide on the internet are now being interpreted as preventing the use of telehealth services as part of VAD processes.)
The Ministers wrote “for many people in our states and territories, access to VAD is restricted by where they live”.
“This is an issue of equity,” they said.
Go Gentle CEO Dr Linda Swan said “it’s baffling that the Federal Government remains so resistant to a sensible change that would make an enormous difference to dying Australians”.
She added the Attorney-General’s standard response to enquiries about reform is that she is “working with the states and territories on the matter”.
Swan said the “letter from Health Ministers appears to confirm this is not the case”.
All that is needed to resolve the issue is a simple amendment to the Criminal Code to provide that the offences do not extend to people providing services as part of a VAD process under state or territory law. There is no need for the Attorney to “work with the states” to make this happen. (See this previous Croakey article by Jason Staines in August).
The NSW-based Mental Health Coordinating Council (MHCC) warned “delays to a new National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Agreement and the rollout of psychosocial Foundational Supports risk leaving more than half a million Australians without access to essential community-based mental health support”.
MHCC said the meeting of Commonwealth and state Mental Health Ministers on 23 October deferred any decisions on the new agreement to the next meeting of Health Ministers scheduled for December.
MHCC CEO Dr Evelyne Tadros said “there is significant uncertainty about the future of services funded under the National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Agreement beyond 30 June 2027”.
“An extension of existing arrangements may be necessary to provide continuity and allow time for a new agreement to be developed, but it must be accompanied by a clear commitment to reform and investment in community-based mental healthcare.”
Palliative Care Australia (PCA) warned “people with life-limiting illness are waiting too long for aged care support and can receive too little help, too late”.
PCA called on Minister Rae to ensure the Government’s independent review of aged care classification and prioritisation explicitly addresses palliative care needs and includes palliative care clinicians on its expert advisory group.
CEO Dr Chris Hatherly said “the Government has rightly recognised that people with motor neurone disease need expedited assessment and prioritisation”.
“People with other advanced or rapidly progressing life-limiting illnesses need the same urgency.”
The PHAA said new research published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health had found meal delivery apps are steering Australians towards unhealthy food options.
Lead author, Jess Morrison, a PhD candidate and researcher at SAHMRI and Adelaide University, said focus group participants “told us that when they open a meal delivery app, they’re not thinking about health, they’re thinking about convenience, indulgence and getting a deal”.
“Across every age group, participants associated meal delivery apps with unhealthy options, particularly fast food. That perception shaped how they used the apps and what they ordered.”
Morrison said “online delivery platforms sit outside many of the nutrition policies that apply in physical food environments”.
“We need to consider measures like increasing incentives for healthier options and limiting price promotions on unhealthy foods. Given how much promotions influence choices, policy action in this space could make a real difference.”
First Nations
Croakey published an article by Dr Jill Gallagher AO, a proud Gunditjmara woman and CEO of VACCHO, responding to commitments from both the Coalition and One Nation parties contesting the Victorian state election to tear up Victoria’s Statewide Treaty.
Gallagher called on “mainstream health providers to stand with Aboriginal people and defend Treaty, regardless of who wins at the upcoming state election”.
She said “for mainstream health providers, supporting Treaty is consistent with commitments to equity, cultural safety, partnership and better health outcomes. It’s vital that these commitments extend beyond organisational statements and reconciliation action plans”.
“Commitments require a genuine willingness to speak up when the rights, leadership and aspirations of Aboriginal people are at stake.”
Gallagher concluded “the question is not whether the health sector can afford to speak up – it is whether we can afford not to”.
Trade unions
The Australian College of Nursing (ACN) welcomed the Medicare Benefits Schedule Review Advisory Committee report draft proposal to extend Medicare bulk-billing incentives to nurse practitioner consultations for the first time.
However, it warned restricting the incentives to patients registered through MyMedicare with the practice risks locking out nurse practitioners (NPs), as NP-led practices without a GP cannot currently join MyMedicare.
ACN CEO Adjunct Professor Kathryn Zeitz called for “the final report to recommend the Government undertake a review of the MyMedicare framework and accreditation requirements that addresses the inequitable exclusion of NP- and nurse-led practices”.
She added “we know funding, regulatory and Medicare barriers are stopping NPs from establishing practices”.
“This review process is a key opportunity to address that.”
The AMA, in its submission to the DHDA consultation on Specialist Affordability: Options to Address Excessive Fees, said action on excessive specialist fees must be targeted and evidence-based.
It warned broader affordability problems can only be resolved through greater investment in Medicare rebates and insurer fee schedules, creating more specialist training places, and expanding specialist services in public hospitals.
AMA Vice President Associate Professor Julian Rait said “patient out-of-pocket costs were influenced by many factors including Medicare rebates, private health insurer benefits, the complexity of cases, geography and workforce supply”.
The AMA has a legitimate argument that rebates and benefits have not kept up with costs, and out-of-pocket costs have increased to cover the gap – although many charges are now far in excess of the original MBS fee indexed by CPI.
However, there is no legitimate reason for workforce shortages to lead to higher costs for specialists in those areas.
They are simply charging what the market will bear because there is no competition.
The AMA also released its submission to the parliamentary inquiry into access to and affordability of medical specialists in Australia, making many of the same points: workforce shortages, inadequate public outpatient capacity, declining Medicare support, and weaknesses in private health insurance arrangements are all contributing to worsening patient access and rising out-of-pocket costs.
The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) reacted to the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change, covered by Dr Melissa Sweet for Croakey here.
The ANMF called for action to strengthen the Safeguard Mechanism, fund heat-health protection through Primary Health Networks, and electrify Australian hospitals.
The Australian Psychological Society and the Australasian Sleep Association called for greater access to Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia, pointing to growing evidence that treating insomnia can also improve symptoms of depression, anxiety and day-to-day functioning.
The Australian Society of Ophthalmologists said a study of practice costs carried out by Pioneering Economics found “an ophthalmology practice now costs $209 in overheads to see each patient, while the average Medicare rebate for that consultation is just $60”.
As the study itself was not released it is not possible to scrutinise the methodology behind these figures, but it appears that the practice costs include overheads for all patients including those undergoing procedures, while the Medicare rebate figures are for consultation items only.
The Royal Australian College of GPs (RACGP) released its 2026 Health of the Nation report, saying it showed GPs are providing more complex care and spending longer with patients than they were a decade ago, together improvements in access to care and patient satisfaction.
RACGP President Dr Michael Wright said the report “found that more GPs were now practising full time, and 99 percent of patients were able to see a GP when needed in 2024–25”.
“The proportion of patients able to see their preferred GP when they needed to also increased to 67 percent, up from 64 percent,” he said.
“At the same time, GPs are caring for patients with increasingly complex health needs. We’re managing more chronic disease, more mental health concerns, more multi-morbidity and more conditions that have traditionally been treated elsewhere in hospitals and by non-GP specialists.”
Wright reiterated the RACGP’s call for the Government to increase Medicare patient rebates by 40 percent for longer consultations, “to ensure patients with complex and chronic conditions can access the care they need without facing out of pocket costs”.
The RACGP also called for:
Health Assessment MBS items to be extended to a broader range of patients and priority groups
the establishment of an independent primary care pricing authority to ensure funding decisions are transparent and reflect the true cost of delivering care, in line with the recent MBS review’s draft recommendations.
Comment on the report came from other groups including Larter Consulting and HotDoc.
The Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) said a new study published in its Internal Medicine Journal found “major Australian prescribing resources provide little guidance to doctors about when pharmacogenomic testing could help them prescribe medicines more safely and effectively”.
The study examined 67 medicine-gene combinations with strong evidence that a person’s genetics may affect their drug response. It found that “the Australian Medicines Handbook included advice about when to consider genetic testing for just 28 percent of these combinations, while Therapeutic Guidelines and TGA-approved product information each included advice for only 19 percent”.
The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) extended its thoughts and support to Dr Helen Haines, her family and community.
The College warned “people living with mental illness, including schizophrenia and psychosis, should not be collectively characterised as dangerous or violent”.
“Such generalisations can reinforce stigma, compound existing disadvantage and discourage people from seeking care,” it said.
RANZCP President Dr Astha Tomar said the “longstanding challenges [of inadequate access to care] deserve sustained attention, irrespective of the circumstances that bring mental health into the public conversation”.
“An effective mental health system needs to do more than respond to crises. It must have the capacity to reach people early, maintain engagement with those whose needs are complex and provide continuity of care,” Tomar said.
“The mental health sector has long identified these gaps and proposed solutions. Addressing them requires sustained commitment and coordinated action from Governments.”
Industry groups
The Pharmacy Guild released YouGov polling “showing Australians are concerned about the planned increase in the cost of PBS medicines in January 2027”.
(I am reasonably confident most Australians were completely oblivious to the increase until the poll drew it to their attention.)
It found “almost four in five Australians want the maximum price of PBS medicines to remain frozen at $25 or be reduced further”.
Pharmacy Guild National President Professor Trent Twomey said “affordable medicines are essential to ensuring patients can start and continue the treatment recommended by their healthcare professionals”.
“The message is clear – freeze the maximum PBS prescription price at $25,” he said.
If the Pharmacy Guild is really concerned about the increase, it could always seek to renegotiate the Community Pharmacy Agreement and meet the cost of a further copayment freeze from the $26 billion member pharmacies will receive over the five years of the agreement.
Private Healthcare Australia (PHA – the private health insurers lobby group) announced it was rebranding itself as the Australian Health Funds Council.
Over the years that I have dealt with the organisation, it has been the Voluntary Health Insurance Association of Australia and then the Australian Health Insurance Association, before becoming the PHA.
Presumably focus groups have found that “insurance” has negative connotations, while nobody understood that PHA represented insurers rather than providers.
Politicians and parliamentary committees
The Aged Care Act requires subordinate legislation (Rules) made under various provisions to be referred to the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee for review within three months after the day the Rules are tabled in the Senate.
The initial tranches of Rules subject to this provision were tabled in October 2025, and the Committee formally began its review on 24 November 2025, asking for submissions by 23 January this year.
After 49 submissions were received and published, nothing further happened for nine months.
The Committee has now scheduled a public hearing for 20 November. The list of witnesses has not yet been finalised – watch this space.
Who knows: there may even be a report coming in the New Year!
International organisations
This column reported in June on a proposed meeting of the US Food and Drug Agency (FDA) Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee in July to consider removing the ban on compounding pharmacies preparing seven peptides, including BPC-157, which is claimed to heal injuries and reduce inflammation.
On 28 October, the US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) published a draft policy indicating it would refrain from regulatory action against compounding pharmacies selling six of the substances, as long as they only use ingredients from FDA-registered factories, collect information on side effects for safety analysis, and verify the purity of peptides they use.
Associated Press reported this position was reached after sustained pushback from FDA officials against DHHS staff who were proposing to add the peptides to the list of substances that could safely be produced by compounding pharmacists.
As a result of these shenanigans, people buying peptides in the US still have no assurances that the substances are intrinsically safe or efficacious, but they can be assured that the substance in the bottle is a pure version of what it says on the label.
Consultation on the draft policy is open for two weeks.
Finally
For many years it has been an article of faith among most of my friendship group (mainly pinko, chardonnay-sipping, social welfare bureaucrats) that the private provision of care services does not lead to good outcomes.
Private providers will inevitably wish to make a profit, and that profit can only come by diverting funding provided for care.
Competition may drive efficiency in the production of material goods, but care fundamentally requires staff time, and the savings in staff time needed to produce profits will reduce the volume and quality of care produced.
The Conversation recently published an article by Professor Emerita Gabrielle Meagher from Macquarie University arguing that: “Governments have turned care into a commodity. It’s failing us all.”
Meagher suggests “one of the major drivers of these failures [in care quality] is the very business model of care itself”, noting that “in Australia, as in many rich countries, private businesses are delivering an increasing share of care”.
She goes on to explore “how did we get here, and how do we reform the system to better serve all of us?”
Meagher concludes that “it will take courage, time and money for Governments to reorient care systems away from the market model towards what [University of Melbourne Professor Mark] Considine calls a social model”.
“Under a social model, providers are connected to communities in an open, collaborative system and people who use services have a voice.
“Expertise from diverse sources – including clients, frontline workers, inspectors and researchers – is shared to drive innovation in the interests of clients.
“Good care does not come cheap. Opportunistic corporate providers are deeply entrenched and commercial interests enjoy substantial protections. But Australians deserve better than the current arrangements.”
Consultations and inquiries
Here is our weekly list of requests by government bodies and parliamentary committees for responses to consultations or submissions to inquiries, arranged in order of submission deadlines. Please let us know if there are any to add for next week’s column.
Medical Services Advisory Committee
F-18 Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography for evaluation of complex infection
Kappa free-light chain index testing for the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis
Detection of measurable residual disease in patients with multiple myeloma
Genetic testing to identify homologous recombination repair gene alterations in patients with metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer to determine eligibility for treatment with PBS-subsidised talazoparib
Anti-Müllerian hormone testing for identification of Polycystic Ovarian Morphology, to support the diagnosis of Polyendrocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome (PMOS)
Review of devices used in catheter-based cardiac ablation for the treatment of patients with cardiac arrhythmias
Defensive Antibacterial Coating with antibiotics for reducing the risk of periprosthetic surgical site infection
Lifileucel for the treatment of patients with previously treated unresectable or metastatic melanoma
Efanesoctocog alfa for routine prophylaxis in patients with haemophilia A
6 November
Independent Health and Aged Care Pricing Authority
Consultation on ICD-10-AM/ACHI/ACS Fourteenth Edition and AR-DRG V13.0 Development
13 November
Office of the Gene Technology Regulator
Cost Recovery Implementation Statement
13 November
Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine
Draft Practice Standard for the Quality and Safety of Virtual Care in Rural, Remote and First Nations Communities
15 November
Department of Health, Disability and Ageing
In-home aged care service list review
16 November
Therapeutic Goods Administration
Changes to permissible ingredients – Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine hydrochloride, pyridoxal 5-phosphate, and pyridoxal 5-phosphate monohydrate)
25 November
House of Representatives Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Disability
Inquiry into access to and affordability of medical specialists in Australia
27 November (extended from 16 October)
Senate Community Affairs Committee
2025 National Health Reform Agreement with Western Australia
27 November
Office of the Gene Technology Regulator
Fermentation of straw-derived sugars using genetically modified bacterium for hydrogen production
7 December
Therapeutic Goods Administration
Reviewing the exclusion for certain digital mental health tools
7 December
Department of Health, Disability and Ageing
Medicare Benefits Schedule Review Advisory Committee Referred Chronic Condition Management Services Draft Report
9 December
Office of the Gene Technology Regulator
Fermentation of plant material-derived sugars using genetically modified yeast for ethanol production
11 December
Department of Health, Disability and Ageing
“We want to hear about your experience with aged care assessments and the Support at Home program”
14 December
Ahpra Accreditation Committee
Feedback on the draft National Scheme Professional Capability Framework and pilot set of common professional capabilities on responding to family, domestic and sexual violence and safely using digital health
18 December
Food Standards Australia New Zealand
Mandatory application of the Health Star Rating System to packaged foods sold in Australia and New Zealand
23 December
Inspector-General of Aged Care
Review of the Commonwealth’s implementation of the 148 recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety
29 January 2027
Medicare Services Advisory Committee
177 Lutetium PSMA-617 for prostate specific membrane antigen-positive, taxane-naïve patients with metastatic castrate resistant prostate cancer
Genetic testing for the detection of germline variants in cancer predisposition genes in people with prostate cancer and their relatives
KT-pathway altered tumour testing in patients with HR+/HER2- advanced metastatic breast cancer
Ciltacabtagene autoleucel therapy to treat patients with refractory or relapsed multiple myeloma after at least 1 prior therapy
12 February 2027
Author details
Charles Maskell-Knight PSM was a senior public servant in the Commonwealth Department of Health for over 25 years before retiring in 2021. He worked as a senior adviser to the Aged Care Royal Commission in 2019-20. He is a member of Croakey Health Media; we thank and acknowledge him for providing this column as a probono service to our readers. Follow on X/Twitter at @CharlesAndrewMK, and on Bluesky at: @charlesmk.bsky.social.
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