Speakers

The Hon Carmel Tebbutt MP, Deputy Premier, Minister for Health Government of NSW	The Hon Peter Dutton MP, Federal Shadow Minister for Health and Ageing	Lynelle Briggs Chief Executive Officer Medicare Australia	Mrs Jillian Skinner MP Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Shadow Minister for Health Parliament of NSW
Professor John Dwyer, AO Emeritus Professor of Medicine University of New South Wales	Shaun Gath Chief Executive Officer Private Health Insurance Administration Council	Professor Mike Daube, Professor of Health Policy, Curtin University Director, Public Health Advocacy Institute President, Public Health Association of Australia	Brett McPherson President Australian Association of Practice Managers

• Robert Wells, Director, Menzies Centre for Health Policy
• Richard Royle, Chief Executive Officer, Uniting Care Health
• Trevor Carr, Chief Executive Officer, Victorian Healthcare Association
• Carol Bennett, Executive Director, Consumers’ Health Forum
• Michale Georgeff, Chief Executive Officer, Precedence Healthcare,
  Director e-Health Research Centre, Monash University

About The Australian Health Congress

The federal budget, which should pass unopposed through the senate in short order, contains funding for the incentives offered to the states to sign up to the NHHN agreement. Although the reform agenda is contingent on further legislation being passed, this will enable the process of change to begin.

Hopefully the passage of the bills relating to retaining a portion of the GST, and the creation of the IPA and NSQSA will have an easier time of it than the introduction of Medicare to which the current reform is being compared.

No one would question the need for reform and the acceptance of the majority of recommendations in recent major reports has meant that most organisations in the health sector have been broadly supportive of proposed developments.

But we do need to know how the changes are going to take place and we need to make sure we don't lose sight of the bigger picture while concentrating on the details.

The Australian Health Congress is a unique forum for government, industry and advocacy groups to discuss the progress towards reform. As an independent and unaligned event, we provide an opportunity for all stakeholders to have a voice in the debate and to explore the inter-relationships between the different levels of care and across jurisdictional boundaries.

Who will be attending?

The majority of delegates who attend the congress are senior representatives from government departments, public and private hospitals, area health networks, primary care organisations, health insurers and the medical community. Importantly, this is not an event for clinicians per se, but seeks to bring together the many departments, authorities and organisations dedicated to healthcare. There will be a number of panel discussions and interactive sessions designed to pool the knowledge present at the event and ensure that every question is given due consideration.

Speakers will be government ministers, department heads and industry leaders drawn from a variety of healthcare providers, from public, private and NGO's, from primary and acute services

Sessions and Topics

Sessions and Topics currently being developed include:

• Implementing the National Health and Hospital Agreement
  
• Local Hospital Networks
  
• Primary Health Care
  
• Financing
  
• The creation of national standards
  
• National governance systems
  - Pricing
  - Performance and auditing
  - Clinical standards
  
• Education and public engagement with the reform process
  
• Private health insurance rebate
  
• e-Health, innovation and technology
  
• GP Super Clinics
  
• Chronic disease management
  
• What's missing: Rural workforce, dental care, specific measures (alcohol abuse, obesity)
  
• Health implications and provisions for an ageing Australia
  
• Continued equitable access to health care - with a particular focus on indigenous health

Venue and Accommodation

Venue: Crowne Plaza, Darling Harbour
Address: 150 Day Street, Sydney NSW, 2000
Ph: (02) 9261 1188
Website: Crowne Plaza

Official accommodation and travel partner: Corporate Traveller
Sam Rowe
Travel Manager
Ph: +61 2 8121 2020
Fx: +61 2 8121 2019
E: Sam.Rowe@corporatetraveller.com.au