Kerry Rea (Bonner, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I too rise to support this very important Australian National Preventive Health Agency Bill 2009 before us today, because, as we all know, there is nothing more essential to all of us than good health. If you are suffering from some form of illness or injury, it just makes resolving all the other problems that you contend with in your daily life so much more difficult. So we all know that the best start to any day is to wake up feeling healthy. That can prepare you for whatever the day may bring—and we all know, particularly those of us in this job, that the day can bring anything other than that which we have planned! It is also important for a well-functioning and productive society that all individuals have good personal health and that we support the physical and mental health of all who make up that society and community.

Although these statements may be self-evident, unfortunately, as individuals and as a community our physical and mental wellbeing is not the highest priority at all. In fact, it is often the lowest priority. Whether it is work or family responsibilities or other commitments in our lives, they always seem to take precedence over taking care of ourselves during the day. As a result, often the only time that we ever really deal with our own physical wellbeing is when it is too late—when we are either ill or injured and we require medical attention and expertise. Rather than focusing on prevention, we wait until we get to the point of falling ill or hurting ourselves because we have not paid due attention to our health.

If we took the time to care for our minds and our bodies before they break down, we would find that not only the rest of our own lives would be easier but many of the social problems that we as a society face, and, of course, the enormous amount that we as a government and other levels of government spend on health care, would drop dramatically. We are not talking about a new-fangled idea here. We know that prevention works. There is enough evidence to show, as the member for Moreton said, that losing weight, getting fitter, stopping smoking and reducing or even giving up alcohol consumption make a big difference in preventing disease and improving our life expectancy. But, for some reason, a vast majority of us just do not take any notice.

But when we do take notice, when we see governments or community organisations embarking upon community awareness campaigns around a particular disease or some other form of injury and people do take notice, we know that prevention actually works. Whether it is the restrictions on tobacco advertising, which have seen a significant reduction in the number of people taking up smoking, whether it is the good old ‘Life. Be in it.’ campaign on television that we all remember, which got us up out of our chairs and our beds and got us walking and exercising, or whether it is something as simple as enforcing policies on the wearing of bike helmets, and what a significant reduction in head injuries and other injuries we have seen as a result of that small but very significant change, prevention works. There is the campaign around the wearing of seat belts and enforcing that policy. Indeed there are some very significant changes, particularly when we look at the campaigns on safe sex practices which have had such a significant impact on reducing the spread of HIV-AIDS in this country. All of these things clearly point to evidence that, when a good prevention campaign is run, people will take notice and it will have results. In fact, road trauma deaths have decreased by 80 per cent since the 1970s. There are probably a number of factors involved in that, but I think it indicates that the simple act of wearing a seatbelt and requiring all people to wear seatbelts in a car certainly has made a dramatic difference when it comes to road trauma, accidents and deaths.

For that reason, I am very pleased to see that the Rudd government, under the leadership of the Minister for Health and Ageing, Nicola Roxon, established the National Health Workforce Taskforce in 2008 and recently launched the National Preventative Health Strategy, in September this year. If we are serious about reforming the health system, and we know that we as members of the government were elected on that very clear commitment, if we are serious about implementing our commitment and our policies, we must start with prevention. We currently spend less than two per cent of the health budget on prevention measures and, as a result, we all know that the demand on our public health system, the reliance on GPs and the cost of, and reliance on, medication are increasing dramatically. But, of course, we could do a lot better if we were able to focus policies on prevention.

We know that this is not just about feeling better ourselves. We all know the personal cost of being unwell, whether we just feel bad or have hurt ourselves. We know the social cost of being unwell and the impact it has on us both socially and economically. Whether it is the loss of work time or the loss of income, not only does that impact on the sufferer but also it clearly impacts on the family and the people they are dependent on. It also has a significant impact on general productivity. So this is not just about making us feel good. It is about saving the dollars that we spend through taxation support on the health system and about improving the economy through increased productivity.

That is why the role of the preventative health agency is so critical and why I am so pleased to see this legislation before the House, because the government’s goal of reforming and improving our health system cannot occur without it. The health agency will be established as a statutory authority under the Financial Management and Accountability Act. It will be established as a result of the National Partnership Agreement on Preventative Health between the state and Commonwealth governments, which was agreed to in November 2008. Once again we see not only that this is an important initiative for health but also that it demonstrates this government’s constant argument that, when governments at all levels work together rather than in competition with each other, the community and all of us as individuals benefit.

The Commonwealth will provide the agency with funding over four years of $133.2 million. This includes $17.6 million for set-up and maintenance of the agency, $102 million for national social marketing campaigns around smoking and obesity—two areas where we know prevention can significantly reduce the onset of a vast number of diseases, particularly in later life—$13.1 million for research to inform policy development around preventive health and $500,000 for an audit of the preventive health workforce. As you can see, this is a significant commitment. We acknowledge that, if we are to be serious about preventive health, if we are to put our money where our mouths are, it needs to be serious funding and clearly this legislation indicates that. Marketing and awareness campaigns will be funded, as will research around measures that will help us to develop better and more informed policies around preventive health for the future.

I think that the most critical role of this agency will be that of coordination. The failure in the past to get the message across to members of the Australian community has not just been because there has been a lack of activity in this particular area; I suspect it is also because there has been a lack of coordination and cohesion, which has prevented a clear focus on the policies that can work when it comes to preventive health. The agency will provide leadership, coordination and monitoring to support the successful implementation of the initiatives that will be funded through the national partnership on prevention, and it will include $692 million for interventions to help Australians modify their lifestyles. As we know, $692 million is not an insignificant amount and I suspect that the investment in intervening in people’s activities and encouraging them to change their lifestyles will save much, much more than that in the long term. It will mean we are not required to spend that amount of money on treatment those people would require if they had not done anything about changing their behaviour.

The coordination is important when you consider the diverse number of organisations, individuals and industries that already exist around preventive health, such as health and fitness operators from gym owners through to personal trainers; private health insurers; sporting clubs and associations; health professionals; allied health professionals and alternative medical people such as naturopaths, osteopaths and the like. When you consider the range of people trying to do their bit in this area, I think we can all appreciate the incredibly powerful impact that would occur in the community if there was an agency that brought together all of the good work those people are doing. The agency could start to coordinate and focus on how combined efforts could do more in the area of prevention of illnesses and injuries.

The agency will be a significant government body and will therefore need to be accountable to the taxpayers who fund it. It will produce triennial strategic plans and an annual operational plan that must be approved by state and federal health ministers. The minister will appoint a CEO to the agency. There will also be an advisory council that will consist not only of the key government bodies—state, territory and Commonwealth governments—but also representatives and individuals with expertise in this area. So, once again, we will see a significant step towards being serious about preventive health by having an agency that incorporates not just the funding bodies but the people who are doing the work on the ground, that knows what works and can not just inform existing programs but help us to better develop future policies.

I think it is important that we do acknowledge the role of all levels of government in this. Coming from a local government background, I certainly appreciate the role that all governments play. Indeed, I believe that local governments are key in the preventative health strategy of this country. It is local governments that provide the parks, recreational activities, the physical spaces and the sporting and recreational programs at a local level which encourage people to get out of their houses and be more active. Whether it is simply a festival that means you do not sit and watch videos on your TV but you walk outside and listen to some local music, whether it is a kite-flying day or whether it is providing bike paths—all of that physical and social infrastructure, which does not get acknowledged as a key part of the health budget in this country, is now being brought to the table with other levels of government and acknowledged as playing a key role in preventing illness and improving the health of all in our communities.

The council will also focus on a couple of very key issues when it comes to developing policy and working towards improving the health of our citizens. Social marketing is a term not usually equated with health policy, but, as I demonstrated earlier with the number of significant community and government awareness-raising programs in this country, it is clearly a very important part of the health policy in the health budget because it is the way that you get the message out to people. It is the way that you encourage people to take some responsibility for their own wellbeing and to understand that it is not selfish, ignorant or negligent to take time out each day to care about yourself. You need to care about yourself and make sure you are functioning in a well and satisfied way. The people who depend on you—your work colleagues, family, children and friends and people in organisations that you are involved in—will benefit from you taking care of yourself. That is a very important message that we need to get out there.

It is also why I think that this agency will work, particularly through the advisory council. This is not just a top-down approach; it is acknowledging the significant investment in dollars but it is doing so by saying that we have to form partnerships with not just the people who are working in this industry but the people who are benefiting from the industry. We need to encourage individuals and community organisations, as well as those providing the services to them, to be part of this program. You need to take responsibility for yourself. The government will invest in your health if you partake of those activities that will ensure a longer and healthier life.

In the last few minutes I have got I want to talk about the local consultations I have been having in my electorate of Bonner. They have mainly been around the Health and Hospitals Reform Commission report. Three messages came out of the discussions and consultations I have had with people about how we deal with the already fairly pressured health system: prevention, prevention, prevention. The health professionals are saying that we need more money put into prevention—‘Let’s get that graph of funding better. We don’t want less than two per cent spent on preventative health care and such an enormous amount spent on acute health care. We want to reverse that trend. We need to invest more in preventative health policies.’

I would like to pay tribute to Tyack Health in my electorate. It is a family run business that for 40 years has been doing just this. This group of doctors understand not just the significance of having a good supply of bandages and injections but the importance of preventive health care. They started doing it 40 years ago. They now have a massive medical centre on Radford Road in Manly West. They have pilates teachers, chiropractors, GPs, physiotherapists, nutritionists, dieticians and massage therapists all under the one roof. When someone rings to access any of those services the first thing that is done is an overall health check to find everything that may be affecting them.

The professionals at the Tyack Health Centre understand that people do not always see the symptoms of a potentially life-threatening disease and that intervention is sometimes needed. They also appreciate that treating one symptom that a person has can often have an impact on everything else associated with their personal wellbeing. So a holistic approach to health care achieves great results when it comes to prevention. Obviously, it also means that we see great results in terms of the cost of health care in this country.

On a final note, when I was researching for this speech I referenced a very interesting media release put out by the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, the Hon. Tony Burke, who often does not get mentioned in health debates, but I think his press release is worth mentioning. The press release talks about the research that was done on the health benefits of Australian native food. Indeed, when you look at things like the Kakadu plum and the Australian desert lime, you find that they have incredibly high levels of vitamin C. The bush tomato, the Tasmanian pepper leaf and wattle seeds were found to contain the richest sources of iron amongst all the herbs and spices tested. The Kakadu plum is also rich in antioxidants, which all of us who are very concerned about our skin would know is of great benefit.

It is well worth looking at what is literally in our own backyard. It reinforces once again that we should pay tribute to being in a country which is home to the longest living, longest running civilisation on this planet, the Aboriginal people of Australia. Perhaps it was the wattle seeds, the quandongs and the Kakadu plums that have contributed to such a vibrant, interesting and wonderful culture still being with us today. I think we know that there are many lessons to be learnt from the fact that Indigenous people have cared for this land and for themselves and their families for so many thousands of years. (Time expired)

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