Fix the health crisis

Australia is one of the richest nations in the world, yet the healthcare system is run for the profit of private companies. Ordinary people are seeing limited access to health services going further backwards. Emergency departments are under strain, bulk-billing services have almost disappeared, and the NDIS has been slashed.

We were promised an end to ambulance ramping, but the numbers have never been higher. The total hours lost to ramping increased by 119% since 2023. These are precious hours of care going down the drain, forcing people to gamble on staying home when they need help and leaving patients waiting alone in hospital corridors. Access to life-saving care should not be left hanging in the balance.

Nurses, Paramedics, Doctors, and Allied Health Workers are being asked to hold the health system together while pushing through burnout. In exchange, the state Labor government has consistently rejected the demands of South Australian Nurses for better conditions, offering a paltry 11.5% increase over 3 years, barely keeping pace with inflation.

Meanwhile, the private health system is in turmoil, leaving patients to choose between increasing premiums or the patchwork public system.

No one should have the right to put a price tag on our health. We need to remove the drive for profit from all areas of health, direct funding away from industries of harm like weapons and fossil fuels, and invest in reliable, comprehensive services for everyone.

What we think

1. Universal and timely access to comprehensive quality healthcare is a human right.
2. Healthcare should not be run for profit. Medical, pharmaceutical and associated research should not be privately owned or operated for profit.
3. Our health is influenced by social, cultural, political, economic and environmental factors. Healthcare must be preventive, holistic and underpinned by an understanding of the social context that shapes presentations of ill-health.
4. Mental health is crucial to overall health.

We’ll fight to

1. Address the root cause of ambulance ramping by:
   1. Reversing the closure and downsizing of public hospitals.
   2. Increasing the number of beds in all state hospitals and health clinics.
   3. Providing empty private hospital beds to public patients.
2. Give healthcare workers and patients the safety and conditions they deserve by:
   1. Increasing nurses' and paramedics' wages by 23%.
   2. Increasing the wages of community and allied health workers above inflation.
   3. Mandating safe staff-to-patient ratios.
   4. Putting private hospitals into state hands.
3. Expand the community health sector to ensure free access to:
   1. State-funded, bulk-billing GP and Dental clinics.
   2. Medical Imaging and Pathology.
   3. Allied Health.
   4. Reproductive, sexual health, and abortion services.
   5. Mental health and social support.
   6. Vaccination, preventative health and community outreach.
4. Eliminate the for-profit model of healthcare and social services by:
   1. Ending the outsourcing of health services to private companies.
   2. Defending and extending Medicare coverage.
   3. Replacing the NDIS with public, Medicare-funded health and community services.
   4. Putting private residential aged-care and disability providers into public hands.
   5. Funding in-home support packages for people with Disabilities, older adults, and people with complex health conditions.
5. Protect the community from pandemics and respiratory diseases by:
   1. Investing in improved ventilation and air purification in all public, occupational, educational, health and community indoor spaces to ensure safe air quality.
   2. Investing in vaccinations against viruses that can cause severe respiratory diseases.
   3. Investing in research, development and mass production of vaccines against pathogens with pandemic potential.
   4. Making these vaccines available, publicly funded and accessible for all members of the community.