Page 352 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 12 February 2013
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MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo) (10.23): The Greens believe that it is important to ensure that we have a fair and equitable national funding system for our hospitals. We all know that the long-term sustainability of our health system is very important.
I would like to note that this bill, and the national health reform agreement in general, is not so much a health reform but a public hospital funding reform. Having said that, we do support these reforms before us today. There are many more health and hospital reforms which need to happen across the country but those are undoubtedly a discussion for another time.
This bill does bring with it improvements to the current national hospital funding process, which is welcome. I believe that this bill is fairly uncontroversial and generally sets out sensible proposals for how the funds can be well accounted for and transparently managed. The detail of the bill is largely administrative and will ensure that hospital funding being provided can be tracked, used appropriately and regularly reported against.
As the health minister told us in her presentation speech last November, this bill ensures a national consistency between all states and territories in how public hospital funding is banked, managed and reported against. I note the concerns of the scrutiny committee regarding the clauses around the suspension of the administrator, and I note that there are alternatives available such as we have for the suspension of the Clerk. However, given that these protections will be effectively replicated in the employment agreement, it is justified in these circumstances to support the provisions of the bill as proposed. The Greens will be supporting this bill today.
MS GALLAGHER (Molonglo—Chief Minister, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Health and Minister for Higher Education) (10.24), in reply: I thank members for their contributions to this bill and to the debate. The Health (National Health Funding Pool and Administration) Bill 2012 gives effect to new national funding arrangements for public hospitals. These arrangements were set out clearly in the national health reform agreement as agreed by COAG in August 2011. The bill forms a component of a suite of national reforms being delivered under that agreement.
The ACT health system provides a high standard of care. However, we are not immune to the growing pressures and rising health costs. ACT government has responded to these pressures and the massive growth in demand by investing in more beds, new services, new models of care and new facilities. These services and facilities will equip our health system for the future. Significantly, the national health reform agreement provides more funding to the ACT health system and reorganises how health systems will be governed and delivered. We have retained those elements of our health system that work the best and strengthened others.
At the heart of the agreement is the commitment by the commonwealth to fund a fairer share of the cost of health services over time, and that was very much at the forefront of our minds when we signed up to this agreement. The commonwealth will begin to contribute to efficient growth funding for public hospitals in 2014-15 by
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