Though the detail is thin on the ground, Labor’s pre-election promise to establish Medicare-funded clinics for semi-urgent care to help clear the decks in hospital emergency departments has created much discussion and speculation.

In 2020–21, 47 per cent of presentations to emergency departments—just over 4 million visits across Australia—were classified as either semi-urgent or non-urgent, meaning they could have been addressed outside a hospital.

Addressing a major conference on mental health, a keynote speaker asked attendees staying at the hotel venue if they had noticed the customer feedback form on the bureau in each guestroom.

Most had.

The APA was joined there by representatives of all 31 Primary Health Networks, Consumers Health Forum of Australia members, GPs, influencers, providers, allied health representatives and other industry leaders.

The main objective for the Leaders Summit was to affirm key priorities from the 10-year Primary Health Care Plan and develop a plan for action as part of an incoming health minister’s brief.

As I write, we are only two weeks away from the federal election.

By the time the June issue of this publication hits your desk, we will have either a new government or another four years of the Coalition.

Whatever the case, I am feeling quite deflated about the lack of discussion, policy or vision for health in the lead-up to the election.

Not only is health absent in pre-election promises, its treatment was also alarmingly underwhelming in the recent Federal Budget.

The expression ‘last chance saloon’ is used when a situation is considered to be the last opportunity for success, beyond which hope for good fortune will greatly diminish.

The next term of government is a last chance saloon for comprehensive health reform.

What made it even more infuriating was that it was reported in a mainstream Sydney and national print media outlet, with quotes from the Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians, Senator Richard Colbeck, and from a leader of a peak aged care provider group.

The reports started to question our professional integrity.

While it remains a point of pride for Australia and is arguably one of the best in the world, the past two years of the pandemic have exposed its inefficiencies and idiosyncrasies like never before.

Hospital wards and emergency departments are at capacity despite the fact that the peak of the pandemic is now behind us.

A call for publicly funded first contact physiotherapy (FCP) is a critical part of our 2022 election campaign and our ongoing advocacy for a stronger role for physiotherapy in the health system.

Over the past two years, we have been involved in healthcare reform committees, Senate standing committee hearings and departmental briefings.

This document sets out a pathway to true health reform that will ensure both the long-term sustainability of healthcare and a better patient journey.