SARRAH Connected eNewsletter 26 August 2022

Message from the CEO

As a physio who has often found themselves closely analysing the gait of some poor unsuspecting member of the general public as they walk down the street towards me (What’s wrong with that person’s left hip? What kind of brace/prosthetic device is that? Why is that person looking at me with an alarmed expression on their face?) I know that some habits are hard to shake. So when I am travelling in rural and remote areas, whether for business or leisure, there are certain things I can’t help but notice as I roll into town, like the presence or absence of a hospital or primary healthcare service. And I can’t help but wonder how locals access their healthcare and other social services.

And health is often the topic of choice when making small talk with local business owners (apart from the weather and the price of fuel). Like the operator of the fuel depot in a MMM7 community I passed through earlier this week, preoccupied with concerns for the health of a family member who’d dropped in earlier that day having just returned from a visit to a specialist three and a half hours down the road. Now that logistic may seem like enough of a challenge for most, but consider that 15-minute consultation involved journeying across vast, remote areas with no phone coverage, rough roads embellished by encounters with wildlife, farm machinery and road trains, and likely required an overnight stay to avoid being on the road before dawn or after dusk. Not to mention the price of fuel.

Often the acute and emergency care is visible to the public as they pass through town. But what about services for people living with chronic illness or disability, or young children requiring early intervention services, or frail-aged people who desperately want to remain in the community in which they have lived their entire lives? Likely these services – if they are available at all - are accessed from different regional towns several hours down the road (or a city literally another world away), and from different service providers. Do these providers have a physical presence in these communities? To what extent do they connect with the local health service, if at all? Does the local Council get involved? How do families find out about available services, especially when the 5G coverage is quite good when you’re standing directly under the telecommunications tower in the middle of town, but drops out completely 5 minutes down the road?

Travelling through these remote communities is a stark reminder of the challenges to improving access to health services. It also reminds us that solutions require a multi-pronged approach; that telehealth can be helpful but is not a panacea; and that local connections and relationships are critical to the people who live in these places. As the blow-in who stops to refuel and spends a few minutes listening to the everyday concerns of local residents, I am heartened by their resolve and their deep connection to place, and I am encouraged to continue to chip away at the system so that these communities can live their best lives equitably with their metropolitan cousins, even if this work is invisible to them.

Peace & Love...
Cath

Jobs and Skills Summit
The Jobs and Skills Summit, which is being held in Canberra on 1-2 September.
Ministers are holding a series of pre Jobs and Skills Summit Forum meetings to gather views and suggestions for action to inform the process.

SARRAH participated in a valuable Health Workforce Roundtable (Roundtable) discussion, with Minister for Health and Aged Care, the Hon Mark Butler MP and Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Assistant Minister Rural and Regional Health the Hon Emma McBride MP, on 23 August 2022. There is some suggestion that this will be the first of an ongoing series of cross-sectoral, health workforce meetings with Ministers, looking to address immediate and longer-term issues to better match health workforce capacity and distribute to where it is needed in contemporary Australia. SARRAH would welcome the initiative.
Minister Butler’s media statement on the Health Workforce roundtable is available here.
As reported last week, SARRAH President, Ed Johnson, attended the NDIS Jobs and Skills Forum, hosted by Minister for the NDIS, the Hon Bill Shorten MP, on 17 August.

We may be imagining it, but there seems to be growing attention on the need to focus more on growing the health and social assistance workforce as part of the Jobs and Skills Summit and subsequent White Paper process.
The Federal Government’s issues paper (14 pages) provides a broader overview of the process.

Australian Government expansion of access to Free Interpreting Service (FIS)

From 1 September eligible allied health professionals are able to access Australian Government’s Free Interpreting Service (FIS). The TIS National website will include a dedicated Allied Health webpage containing a Fact Sheet and an online application form. The webpage and Fact Sheet will contain eligibility information, and include contact details for enquiries

National Disability Services (NDS) survey: SARRAH members who provide NDIS services – have your say

SARRAH and NDS has been in contact about our shared concerns regarding access to allied health services, especially in rural and remote Australia. The issue is getting worse for NDS service provider members. NDS is conducting their annual State of the Disability Sector Survey (previously known as the Annual Market Survey). NDS is inviting you to “Help tell the story of the disability sector at this crucial time. Your input will shape government policy, inform media coverage, and contribute to positive reform of the disability sector.” Tell us about the State of the Disability Sector now - Take the Survey. The Survey closes on Friday 23 September 2022.

The State of the Disability Sector Survey should be completed by the CEO or a member of the senior management team, or the business owner if a sole proprietor.
The State of the Disability Sector Survey analysis and reporting is conducted independently by the Centre for Disability Research and Policy at The University of Sydney, led by Professor Jennifer Smith-Merry and her team of researchers. This research is not being conducted on behalf of the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) and no data will be released to the NDIA or any other agency or third party. Your members can find out more about the research by reviewing the participant information sheet, provided as a requirement of The University of Sydney’s ethics approval. Your member’s decision on whether to participate in the surveys will in no way affect their relationship with NDS.

Minister Shorten - big shifts in priority for the NDIS – during the week, Minister Shorten continued to speak with the media about probable investigative and policing activities that will address the estimated $3-$6B cost to the NDIS due to criminal behaviour. This signals a major push and shift in emphasis in where compliance activity will focus for the Scheme. Also ,during the week, an ABC report covered Minister Shorten’s intervention in NDIA processes where delays were having adverse impacts.

Aged Care Legislation Senate Inquiry – hearings

Yesterday (Thursday 25 August) the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee – heard from witnesses in their Inquiry about the Aged Care Amendment (Implementing Care Reform) Bill 2022. Today (Friday 26 August) the proof transcript of those hearings was made public – although at time of writing they did not appear to yet be available on the Committee Inquiry web page.

Senate Rice (Greens Victoria) has become a champion in pursuing concerns about access to allied health services in aged care. Senator Pratt (ALP, WA) also raised important concerns during the hearings. Allied health interests were well represented by Scott Willis, National President of the Australian Physiotherapy Association, and Alwyn Blayze, CEO of Allied Aged Care and active SARRAH member. The Health Services Union (HSU) also raised concerns about the lack of assurance around allied health services and capacity across the sector. When available online, the transcript (which we will include a link to in the next newsletter) is very helpful in highlighting the concerns that are coming from the sector (pages 34 and following) and the position that continues to be taken by officials (page 37 and following). Essentially, Department officials stress that the AN-ACC includes funding for allied health, are and will continue to monitor provider reporting of services provided and compliance and complaints mechanisms exist. Officials also pointed to the deficits in the current ACFI funding model (agreed) and the greater potential for appropriate, tailored and continuing care under the new AN-ACC funding model. There is little real argument on this point – AN-ACC does, in theory, allow for improved allied health care provision: it’s implementation, assurance and compliance questions that are of most concern, and feedback from across the sector as well as statistical reporting shows there is reason for real concern. The evidence provided by officials did not address in detail reports and concerns about drops in allied health care, questions around the accuracy of reporting, risks associated with unqualified staff being expected to provide allied health care, or the implications of relevant workforce shortages in rural and remote Australia. Monitoring will continue.

Meanwhile …. The Tasmanian Government is reporting (in similar news to other States) that they are “engaging with the Federal Government and local service providers to develop innovative solutions as we work to ease bed block pressures across our Hospitals”, as people who are medically well and ready to be discharged, are not to leave “as they are either unable to access a Residential Aged Care bed or are experiencing delays in seeking approval for supports through the National Disability Insurance Scheme”.
And continuing our focus on the efforts of state and territory health departments to build much needed workforce capacity in rural, regional and remote Australia, the NSW Government through their Imagine Rural career opportunities in rural and regional NSW, including an Allied Health Rural HECS-HELP Incentive Package.

Submissions
Fifth Review of the Commonwealth Child Dental Benefit Scheme
SARRAH has provided a submission to the Fifth Review of the Commonwealth Child Dental Benefit Scheme (CDBS), noting the gradual improvement In access to the scheme, but noting the considerable gap between access and potentially eligible populations (especially in more remote settings) and suggesting the Review look into issues of access, /utilisation and workforce.
SARRAH Submissions 2022

Consultations - Reminders
Autism Consultation

The Autism Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) has developed Draft National Guidelines for supporting autistic children and their families. Consultation closes on Monday 29 August 2022. The draft Guidelines and link to provide feedback are available here.

The Consumer Health Forum (CHF)

The CHF is refreshing their strategic plan and are seeking members’ feedback. SARRAH is a CHF member and will contribute to the process. Other CHF Members have the opportunity to input.

If you would like to provide input to SARRAH’s response, please email Allan@sarrah.org.au.
This video summarises the process used to develop the plan, and the link to the brief survey can be found here: The survey closes at midnight 7th September.

The Department of Health and Ageing

The Department of Health and Ageing is seeking feedback on the planned introduction of on-site pharmacists in residential aged care homes. The measure is a response to the Aged Care Royal Commission and aims to ensure medications are regularly reviewed, appropriate and appropriate continuity of medication management. The Aged care on-site pharmacists consultation paper outlines the proposed measure and how it will be implemented. More information is available here and submissions close on 9 September.

The Department of Health and Ageing has contracted Ernst & Young (EY) to undertake a study of private health insurance (PHI) default benefit arrangements (the PHI default benefits). PHI default benefits include ‘minimum’ and ‘second-tier default’ benefits, both of which are defined in the Private Health Insurance (Benefit Requirements) Rules 2011. They are paid by health insurers to eligible hospitals for the treatment of privately-insured inpatients in specific circumstances where there is not an agreed contract in place between the health insurer and the hospital. An aim of PHI default benefits is that they support improvements in accessibility and efficiency of privately insured hospital services for healthcare consumers .More information is available here. Please submit your response via email to phidefaultbenefits@au.ey.com by cob, Friday 23 September 2022.

The Department of Health and Ageing is developing an aged care data strategy in response to recommendations 67 and 108 of the Aged Care royal Commission. They are inviting input. More information is available here - we create a better aged care data system and Consultation information guide. Input can be provided to mike.herbert@health.gov.au. before 30 September 2022. If you have any questions, please contact Mike.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)

The ABS is reviewing the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO), with the 2022 update is due for release on 22 November 2022. ABS will soon provide an opportunity for users to provide feedback on proposed changes, which include Emerging Occupations, which include some health related roles. ABS will be inviting submissions through the ABS Consultation Hub https://consult.abs.gov.au across four weeks commencing 1 September 2022 and closing 28 September 2022.

The Independent Health and Aged Care Pricing Authority

Towards an Aged Care Pricing Framework Consultation Paper - The Independent Health and Aged Care Pricing Authority has invited feedback on the proposed approach to aged care pricing. This is an important development in substantiating not only what allied health services should reasonably be provided through aged care services but add focus to the gaps and variations in practice. Submissions to the Consultation Paper close at 5pm AEDT on Friday 14 October 2022. You can complete the online submission form or email your response in Word, PDF or RTE format to submissions.ihacpa@ihacpa.gov.au.

National Medicines Policy (NMP)

NMP process re-started after put on hold in March 2022. The consultation survey on the new draft NMP is open until 27 September 2022 and will be accompanied by a public forum and targeted consultations with key stakeholder groups. A final report is expected to go to Minister Butler before the end of the year. SARRAH provided a submission to the process in March 2022 and will consider providing a supplementary submission. Any input or comment from SARRAH members is most welcome.

SARRAH Media Releases 2022

SARRAH will be holding the next Annual General Meeting (AGM) in November 2022 at the end of the second day of the SARRAH National Conference.

Details of the meeting are as follows:

Date: 16 November 2022

Time: 4:30pm (AEDT)

The meeting papers will be circulated to SARRAH members shortly.

SARRAH SQUAWK Award – Nominations are now open!

The SARRAH SQUAWK Award is a prestigious award, established to recognise SARRAH members for making significant service to the organisation or an outstanding contribution to Australia’s rural and remote allied health through:

Exemplary professional standards of excellence to the community and public that goes above and beyond the regular standards of service
Leadership, guidance, mentoring and governance; in a team or for a group
Implementation of a process or system to achieve more efficacy, higher efficiency, improved productivity or better service delivery
Innovation in research, a program, project or policy development

For more information and nominate please click here

Partnering in 2022

In 2022, our valued industry partners have the opportunity to join with SARRAH.
A variety of sponsorship packages are being offered. We also invite any new proposals you may wish to put forward; SARRAH is happy to negotiate a package that will be of maximum benefit to your organisation and the conference.

Download our conference sponsorship Prospectus here
For all Sponsorship queries, or for any other conference matters, please contact Conference Design Nikia Shaw at Conference Design E: mail@conferencedesign.com.au P: (03) 6231 2999

Conference Program is available HERE

Pick up the early bird!
Early bird pricing is available until Wednesday, 7 September. Save on the cost of registration!

Register Now!

Conference Registration includes:

Access to all online sessions
Access to all recorded sessions for 3 months post conference
Online networking opportunities via the Meeting Hub
Access to full Online Exhibitor Listing

Register online to receive a tax invoice. Payments can be made securely with a credit card when registering online or by EFT within 7 days of registering.
For more information contact: mail@conferencedesign.com.au

KEEP IN TOUCH
You can subscribe for conference updates HERE so you are the first in the know of any news or developments. We look forward to sharing more conference developments and program details with you in the coming weeks.
For more information about the conference please click here SARRAH National Conference 2022

This year the theme is " People, Purpose, Passion". We would love to see photos of you at work across the many nations that make up this continent, sharing important stories about what you do and the communities you serve.

This is an opportunity to showcase your photographs through SARRAH’s communication channels and have your photographic work acknowledged.

Entry Terms and condition:

By entering this competition, you are granting permission for SARRAH to use your work in our social media and other communication channels. We use photographic material to promote the work of SARRAH in social media, publications such as our Annual Reports and project evaluations, and in submissions to government consultations processes. If your photographs are used in this way, you will be acknowledged as the photographer.
Please also ensure that you have obtained consent from the people depicted in your photograph. If we do not have completed consent forms, your entry will be void. Please click on the link below to download the photograph permission form. Photograph permission form.
Entrants can submit an unlimited number of photographs in landscape or portrait format. Each photo must be accompanied by a caption identifying the date and location.
All photographs must be in high quality digital images in PNG or JPEG Format.
The names of the competition winners will be published in SARRAH communication channels.

Assessment and Prizes
SARRAH will appoint independent assessors to determine the winners.

Winners will receive the following prizes:
- 1st Prize: $350 cash prize and free annual membership with SARRAH
- 2nd Prize: $200 cash prize and free SARRAH annual membership
- 3rd Prize: $100 cash prize and free SARRAH annual membership

You all are welcome to join SARRAH and share your photographs with the SARRAH community by Friday 9 September 2022 at sarrah@sarrah.org.au

SARRAH Leadership Program Round 2 commences on 10 October 2022

SARRAH is very proud to open enrolments for the next SARRAH Leadership Program. This program has been designed specifically for AHPs in rural and remote settings.

This program will assist to develop your leadership toolkit to help you to become a successful leader and an agent for change in the rural and remote health landscape of Australia.

Listen to Cath Maloney's video below to learn more!

CLICK HERE TO ENROL
If you would like to take advantage of the SARRAH membership discount, then please visit www.sarrah.org.au for more info on our membership options.

NOT A MEMBER? JOIN HERE AND ENROL THE COURSES AT A DISCOUNTED RATE.
The program has been developed in collaboration with the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation.

Course delivery Dates
From 10 October to 2 December 2022
Course Fee:
The full cost of the course is $1000(+GST) and $750 (+GST) for SARRAH Members.

The course has been built around four key topics:

Leadership Vs Management
"Being" leadership
"Doing" leadership
"Maintaining" leadership

More info about the program can be found here: https://bit.ly/3tbrKFm
ENROLMENT PROCESS

Visit SARRAH’s online learning store, choose your course and follow the prompts.
If this is your first time at the store you will be prompted to first create a user account.
You will need to pay for your course. Payment types are either PayPal or by invoice. You can apply the coupon for your discount at checkout. If you’re paying by invoice, then your enrollment will be confirmed once payment has been received.
Once you have completed the purchasing process you are automatically enrolled.
Then you can simply click your way into the course and begin your learning journey.

Email melodie@sarrah.org.au if you would like to request a relevant discount or need more information about the courses.

Department of Veterans' Affairs News
Reports Published on DVA Allied Health Arrangements

DVA has been implementing changes to dental and allied health arrangements since the announcement of a reform package in the 2018-19 Budget. The measure included a number of initiatives that aimed to improve health outcomes for DVA clients and better target allied health funding. Health providers can now access the Department of Veterans’ Affairs’ (DVA) final reports on the Treatment Cycle Evaluation and Desktop Analysis of Alternative Funding Models on the DVA website.

COVID-19 oral antiviral medicine information
The DVA has published the information COVID-19 oral antiviral medicine information. Please visit DVA Website for more information.

Office of the CAHO

CAHO Newsletter Issue 3
The CAHO office has recently released third issue of the Australian Government Chief Allied Health Officer (CAHO) newsletter.
The newsletter is available on the Department’s website.

Long Covid Factsheets
The Department has released a fact sheet on long COVID aimed at consumers. The website links to the resource are below.
https://health.gov.au/health-alerts/covid-19/symptoms
https://health.gov.au/resources/publications/getting-help-for-long-covid
We would appreciate it if you could share this information amongst your networks. Please direct any questions about the resource to caho@health.gov.au.

Department of Health Aged Care and Mental Health Scholarships: next round opens 29 August 2022
Up to 100 Aged Care postgraduate scholarships are available for allied health professionals to focus on dementia related qualifications. The maximum amount of funding is worth up to $15,000 per scholarship, to study either a graduate certificate, graduate diploma or a masters.

Further Mental Health postgraduate scholarships are available to provide up to $15,000 for allied health professionals working or intending to work within the mental health sector to undertake postgraduate study. All courses must be relevant to the applicants work in the mental health sector and enhance expertise in mental health and suicide prevention.
To be eligible to apply for a postgraduate scholarship applicants must be:

an Australian Citizen or permanent resident of Australia
a qualified allied health professional who is either registered with AHPRA or eligible to register with their professional body
working in aged care or mental health
currently enrolled or intending to enrol in a course, which commences or is continuing from January – December 2023 in a relevant Graduate Certificate, Graduate Diploma or Masters program.

The Allied Health Professional Placement scholarship provides up to $11,000 for undergraduate and postgraduate allied health students to undertake a placement in a mental health setting. Applications are now open and will remain open until all funds have been expended. Scholarships will be offered to successful recipients on a monthly basis.

The Allied Health Continuing Professional Development (CPD) scholarship provides up to $1,500 for allied health professionals working or intending to work within the mental health sector to attend a short course, conference or workshop in 2023. All courses must be relevant to the applicant’s work in the mental health sector and enhance expertise in mental health and suicide prevention.

Applications for all scholarships open on Monday 29 August 2022 for studies undertaken in 2023 and closing Monday 10 October 2022.

For further details, please visit the Australian College of Nursing website.

Regional Australia Institute supports Australia’s regional communities to meet challenges and collectively drive the positive changes they want to see.

Leading Australian Resilient Communities (LARC) is about supporting Australia’s regional communities to meet challenges and collectively drive the positive changes they want to see.

Involving a combination of community-based future forums, 5-day leadership development programs, webinars, coaching, and mentoring, up to 26 leaders in each region will receive scholarships to take part in the leadership program. Click here for more information.

SARRAH is a member of the Climate and Health Alliance (CAHA).
CAHA has recently published "Minister Butler: The health sector needs a focused climate change plan". click here to read the transcript or listen to the speech.
Need to know more about CAHA - click here

External Grant Opportunities
AUS: Veterans Health Week: https://www.dva.gov.au/health-and-treatment/work-and-social-life-programs/veterans-health-week/veterans-health-week-2022
AUS: Deaf Connect Grants: https://deafconnect.org.au/get-involved/grants-sponsorships
AUS: Community Grants Scheme: http://haroldmitchellfoundation.com.au/#!/grants/how-to-apply/
QLD: Clarke Creek Wind Farm Community Fund Grants: https://www.squadronenergy.com/clarke-creek-wind-farm/
QLD: Kenneth Myer Innovation Fellowships: https://www.myerfoundation.org.au/grant-opportunities-list/myer-innovation-fellowships?
QLD: Industry Research Fellowships: https://advance.qld.gov.au/universities-and-researchers/industry-research-fellowships
QLD: Special Research Grants Program: Trauma Care in Regional, Rural and Remote Queensland: https://emergencyfoundation.org.au/trauma-care/
SA: Spring Small Grants: https://standlikestone.com.au/grants/
NT: Mental Health Week Community Awards: https://ntmhc.org.au/nt-mental-health-week/
WA: Community Grants (WA): https://www.variety.org.au/wa/programs/variety-wa-grants/
ACT: International Day of People with Disability Community Grants: https://www.communityservices.act.gov.au/disability_act/grants

JOIN HERE

Have you recently graduated and have been a student member of SARRAH for the last 12 months?

If so, contact us at sarrah@sarrah.org.au, you will receive a 50% discount on SARRAH full membership for the first 12 months.

Please download the SARRAH Student Membership flyer and share it with your collogues and networks.

Complete Advertising Listing Form and submit it to sarrah@sarrah.org.au .

23rd International Mental Health Conference
5-7 September 2022 - Gold Coast Convention Centre QLD
Population Health Congress 2022
21-23 September 2022 Adelaide Convention Centre
39th National CRANAplus Conference
Hilton Hotel, Adelaide, from 4 – 6th October 2022.
Indigenous Wellbeing Conference
24-25 October 2022, Adelaide Oval, SA
Hospital in the home conference
16-18 November 2022 - Tweet Heads NSW
Indigenous Allied Health Australia Conference
28-30 November 2022 - Canberra

Copyright © 2022 Services for Australian Rural and Remote Allied Health (SARRAH). All rights reserved.

Services for Australian Rural and Remote Allied Health
Level 2, 53 Blackall Street, Barton, ACT, 2600

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