Health and aged care must be at forefront of election campaign

Catholic Health Australia (CHA) is urging all political parties and candidates to put health and aged care at the forefront of their campaigns after the Prime Minister called the election today.

The peak body is calling for reforms to ensure all Australians have access to quality, affordable, and sustainable healthcare, whether they live in a capital city, a rural town or a remote area.

“This election campaign is a chance to outline real reform in health and aged care, ensuring private hospitals remain viable, public hospitals attract appropriate investment, aged care residents receive quality and sustainable care, and regional communities are not left behind,” said CHA CEO Jason Kara.

CHA is calling for policies to improve the sustainability of private hospitals, including moving towards a National Private Price and reforming the private health insurance premium round.

“Private hospitals are crucial in reducing the burden on the public system but many services are being forced to close due to insufficient funding,” said Mr Kara.

Aged care

In aged care, CHA’s proposed reforms include strengthening hardship provisions to ensure people don’t miss out under the new Aged Care Act. 

“The accommodation supplement for aged care residents in financial hardship must be increased and processing times for hardship applications must be reduced to prevent delays in essential care,” said Mr Kara.

“We also need a staged six-month transition to the Support at Home program to ensure providers are ready for the new system.”

Meanwhile, greater support is needed for both hospitals and aged care services in regional and remote areas.

“About one in three Australians live outside a capital city, yet they face greater barriers to care. We need urgent investment to ensure regional and rural communities receive the same quality and choice of care as everyone else,” Mr Kara said.

Palliative care

CHA is also calling on policymakers to expand funding and improve access to palliative care, build more social housing and support hospitals to become more environmentally sustainable.

“As Catholics, human dignity, social justice and the common good are central to our advocacy, especially during elections,” said Mr Kara.

“A measure of a healthy society is that we support people to flourish, regardless of their background, and particularly in times when people are sick, frail and vulnerable. This election we shouldn’t accept issues like the health and care for our most vulnerable being ignored in public policy debate.” 

Health Policy Priorities

1. Ensure the long-term viability of private hospitals

2. Reform private health insurance

3. Expand access to mental health services

4. Improve maternity services

5. Address workforce shortages

6. A new NHRA Amendment that is fit for purpose

Aged Care Policy Priorities

1. Tackle aged care workforce shortages

2. Address risks to the success of the reform

3. Support aged care providers in rural areas

4. Strengthen support for home-based aged care

5. Enhance hardship provisions in aged care

6. Implement long-stay reforms to reduce bed block

Mission-Driven Priorities

1. Expand funding and improve access to palliative care

2. Address homelessness by increasing investment in social housing

3. Improve Indigenous health outcomes by closing the gap

4. Support the health and aged care sectors to become more environmentally sustainable

To learn more about Election 2025, visit our website at https://cha.org.au/federal-election-2025/

Notes to editors: Catholic Health Australia (CHA) is Australia’s largest non-government, not-for-profit group of health, community, and aged care providers. Our members operate 80 hospitals in each Australian state and the ACT, providing around 30 per cent of private hospital care and 5 per cent of public hospital care, in addition to extensive community and residential aged care. There are 63 private hospitals operated by CHA members, including St Vincent's, Calvary, Mater, St John of God and Cabrini. CHA members also provide approximately 12 per cent of all aged care facilities across Australia, in addition to around 20 per cent of home care services. 25 per cent of our members’ service provision is regional, rural and remote.

Charlie Moore: 0452 606 171