Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Ageing) Share this | Hansard source

The Health Care (Appropriation) Act 1998 provides the legislative basis for the Commonwealth to pay healthcare grants to the states and territories and Commonwealth own-purpose outlays for mental health, palliative care and the Hospital Information and Performance Information program. The Health Care (Appropriation) Amendment Bill 2008 makes amendments to that act. The 2003-08 Australian healthcare agreements expire on 30 June 2008. At the Council of Australian Governments meeting of 26 March 2008 it was agreed that new healthcare agreements would be signed in December 2008 and commence on 1 July 2009. This means, in effect, that 2008-09 will be a transitional year in which the new agreements will be developed and implemented. At the COAG meeting the Commonwealth agreed to commit an immediate allocation of $1 billion to relieve pressure on public hospitals. This $1 billion is made up of the indexation of the previous Commonwealth allocation for 2007-08 plus a further $500 million of new money. The proposed amendments are a key step in enabling the Commonwealth to meet these commitments.

The act currently provides that total grants of financial assistance must not exceed $42.01 billion over the five-year life of the 2003-08 Australian healthcare agreements. The bill proposes amendments that will increase the appropriation amounts stated in the act by $10.25 billion to $52.26 billion and change the appropriation periods stated in the act from five years to six years. These amendments will ensure continuity of public hospital and related funding for the 2008-09 financial year, during which the new agreements will be developed and put in place. The terms and conditions of the current Australian healthcare agreements will be rolled over for that year to provide a framework for the administration of the payments. The $1 billion to be provided as a result of this bill is significant for a variety of reasons. First, it enables us to take the first steps on the long road towards rebuilding our health system after nearly 12 years of neglect and underfunding by the coalition government. I was surprised when the member for North Sydney stated earlier that the bar had been set very high by the previous government in relation to public hospital funding. I find that quite remarkable.

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