Submissions and Policy Updates

CONSULTATION: Priority content for the National Health Survey 2022

Painaustralia provided support for a joint submission to that informed the priority content for the National Health Survey (NHS) 2022.

Painaustralia has joined a number of key pain sector colleagues in advocating for the crucial need to collect data documenting the pain experience of all Australians through the Australian Bureau of Statistics work for a number of years now, including submitting to the Census review consultations.

There is a now a clear and pressing need for more granular, population-based data and time-trend data to inform policy and healthcare planning. Such data is crucial to inform the public health agenda, especially as the Australian Health Ministers consider recommendations around better care and treatment contained in the draft National Strategic Action Plan for Pain Management which was released by the Minister for Health, the Hon Greg Hunt MP last year.

Data on pain collected through the NHS will be vital in determining whether all Australians have equitable access to tertiary services, irrespective of cultural, socio-economic and remoteness status, and develop policies to address inequities. This data would enable a national research agenda to improve the lives of millions of the over 3.37 million Australian children, adolescents and adults living with pain.

Read Painaustralia’s submission here.

CONSULTATION: Submission to Victorian Inquiry into Use of Cannabis

Painaustralia provided a submission to the Victorian Legal and Social Issues Committee’s Inquiry on the use of Cannabis in Victoria.

Our submission responds to term of reference that assesses the health, mental health, and social impacts of cannabis use on people who use cannabis, their families and carers and makes several recommendations to inform the Inquiry.

Read our submission here.