A federal election will soon be upon us, and it is crucial we see big-picture commitments from our political leaders that will make a positive difference to the health of our community. Tasmania may have ‘must win seats’ for both parties, but we don’t want our state to become a political football – especially when it comes to health.
Historic and ongoing underinvestment in preventative health has left Australia’s public healthcare system in crisis, and Tasmania’s situation is among the worst in the country.
The numbers speak for themselves. Preventative health spending accounts for a mere fraction of the state’s overall health budget – the same can be said at national level – while the number of avoidable hospitalisations continues to rise. This must change.
Tasmania also sits above the national average of avoidable hospitalisations, due in part to a lack of access to GP services. [1] No surprise there. The recently released Cleanbill 2025 Blue Report highlights the struggle many Tasmanians face in accessing affordable primary care. Bulk billing has all but disappeared for non-concession patients, leaving people with average out-of-pocket costs for a GP visit of $54 — the highest in the country. As a result, many Tasmanians are choosing to forgo medical visits altogether.
Without proper access to primary care, more people are turning to emergency departments for treatment of non-life-threatening conditions. These added pressures exacerbate wait times, overwhelm healthcare workers, and strain the system – often to breaking point. This is a vicious cycle caused and fuelled by continuing neglect of basic preventative health measures.
While the situation in Tasmania is disheartening, it is not beyond resolution, but there needs to be a major pivot in attitude and approach. There must be a long-term, big picture preventative health strategy developed and implemented. In the absence of such a shift in priority, the situation will only get worse.
Governments at all levels have a critical role to play, however, the problem cannot be left to politicians and policy makers alone. We ourselves must turn our mindset from getting well to keeping well. As a society, we must empower individuals to take charge of their own health and wellbeing. This means fostering an environment where everyone can access the resources they need to stay healthy, from affordable healthcare options to health education initiatives.
For our part, St Lukes has created welcoming wellness hubs in Hobart and Launceston that offer accessible services and events aimed at increasing health awareness and access.
And the community response has been overwhelming, demonstrating a clear demand, with our Hobart wellness hub attracting more than 6,600 participants to a diversity of health activities in its first year, while Launceston is now projected to attract 20,000 participants in its first year.
We intend to take this successful model to the North-West of the state, and in the lead up to the federal election, we are asking the major parties to commit to fund the build and fit-out of a North-West wellness hub, which would be open to the public and operated independently by St Lukes.
In addition, we are also seeking federal government funding to help us deliver a critical pilot program in Tasmania’s North-West, providing home-based acute care to patients who would normally be admitted to hospital.
The consumer-led program would empower GPs to manage their acutely unwell patients in the community, through a collaborative, multidisciplinary model of care – one that sits outside of a traditional hospital setting.
If successful, the pilot will create a blueprint for statewide and even national rollout.
As a Tasmanian not-for-profit health insurer with a vision to make our state the healthiest island on the planet, St Lukes knows we have a key role to play in empowering our members and the community to take control of their own health and wellbeing. But we cannot do it alone. It is time for government to step up and make meaningful investments in primary care and preventative health.
It is not enough to keep increasing the number of hospital beds and healthcare workers, as important as those efforts may be. We must tackle the root causes of the crisis and prioritise prevention. After all, the fight for better health outcomes — much like any battle — isn’t won by just strengthening the frontlines. It’s about eliminating the cause of the crisis in the first place.
Paul Lupo is the CEO of St Lukes.
[1] Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) August 2024.