The Centre for Health Policy is pleased to announce the appointment of Honorary Professor Briony Dow. Professor Dow is Director of the National Ageing Research Institute (NARI) and an Honorary Professor, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Deakin University.

Amongst developed nations, Australia is a demographic outlier. We are younger, more diverse and growing faster than every other major developed nation. This was the result of major immigration policy changes implemented from the early 2000s that led to slowing of Australia’s rate of population ageing.

Associate Professor Naccarella, from the Centre for Health Policy, has been presented with a teaching excellence award as part of the 2019 MSPGH excellence awards, in recognition of his innovation in teaching and learning in the field of health services evaluation. Lucio’s teaching practice reflects his deep commitment to providing real world context and content-based experiential learning.

Congratulations to Nesha Nanu and Wayne Davidson who each received the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health Award for Excellence in Academic Administration.

Psychosocial Working Conditions and Well-being of International Medical Graduates in Australia:  Evidence from the MABEL longitudinal survey.  Wednesday 6th November 2pm–3pm,  Room 410, Level 4, 207 Bouverie Street, Carlton

The Centre for Health Policy (CHP) was delighted to learn that two of our colleagues – Associate Professor Kim Dalziel and Dr Marie Bismark - have been awarded prestigious Dame Kate Campbell Fellowships, in recognition of research excellence within the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Science (MDHS) at the University of Melbourne.

Free Public Symposium to mark World Food Day – due to popular demand capacity has been increased. Bookings have reopened - but hurry - spaces are limited!

Presenter: Fiona Shalley – October 7th 2019, 3pm-4pm, Seminar Room 515, 207 Bouverie Street Carlton, Vic. Who is getting married? The demographics of Australia’s same-sex marriage ‘pioneers’ Same-sex marriage is surely one of the most significant socio-demographic phenomenon of the early 21st century. Australia became the 27th county in the world to legalise same-sex marriage on 9th December 2017. Using a unique Australian dataset obtained from State Territory Registrars, we present a demographic profile of gay and lesbian couples who married in the first year of the changed legislation, asking who, how many, and where they live. Situated in the international experience, this data shows that the opportunity to marry has been embraced by same-sex couples in Australia with relatively higher proportions of same-sex marriages being registered compared to initial trends in countries such as the Netherlands, England, New Zealand and Ireland. The profile identifies gender differences in the numbers marrying, age of and age differences between partners and the presence of children. Other data items are presented to describe socio-economic characteristics such as country of birth and occupation. The usual residence of the partners also provides information on the spatial distribution that improves our understanding of the broader population of gay and lesbian Australians.

CHP PHD Completion Seminar - Improving Treatment Uptake and Retention in Option B+ Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV in Papua, Indonesia. Thursday September 26 1pm-2pm

CHP Seminar: The cost and quality of mental healthcare provision and the value of service quality in the English NHS Presenter: Prof Rowena Jacobs Monday 23rd September 11.15am–12.15pm - Seminar Room 515, Level 5 207 Bouverie Street, Carlton

CHP Seminar: Understanding persistency in the high-cost state among mental health patients - Tuesday 17th September 12.30pm–1.30pm

Evaluating the economic benefits of complex interventions: accounting for non-health effects of genomic-based diagnostic information - CHP Seminar Thursday 15th August 2.30pm–3.30pm

Evaluating the outcomes associated with genomic sequencing: current evidence and next steps. CHP Seminar Thursday 22nd August 12.30pm–1.30pm

Tuesday 30th July 12.30pm–1.30pm

MSPGH health economists tell the Royal Commission into Victoria's Mental Health System that investing in children's mental health pays off many times over.

Jonathan Liberman, an internationally recognised expert on using the law to advance cancer control, joins the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health in July as Associate Professor in Law and Global Health.

4-6 September 2019. A three-day advanced course in methods for health economic evaluation.

Launch of a new research program in childhood adversity and mental health

Whole-genome sequencing is changing the cancer treatment landscape, but we have to understand its use in the real-world to support a more sustainable, affordable health system, writes Prof Maarten Ijzerman in Pursuit.

Director, Professor Nancy Devlin, recently wrote an article for Pursuit on the economics of good health.

Combining law and medicine has created a career for Associate Professor Marie Bismark that focuses on improving patient safety and the wellbeing of practitioners

When money is increasingly tight in healthcare, health economists like Professor Nancy Devlin face the challenge of convincing clinicians and patients that they’re about more than cutting costs

In the lead up to Australia day, Joanne Luke, a Research Assistant at the Centre for Health Policy, published a piece for IndigenousX on the importance of truth-telling.

26 March 2019 - One-day short course providing participants with an understanding of how economic analysis can be used to evaluate health programs and how this information can aid decision making.

The final CHP Public Seminar for 2018 will be presented by the head of Cancer Health Services Research, Professor Maarten IJzerman

The Health Economics Unit from the Centre for Health Policy had strong presence both on the organising committee and in the line-up of presenters of the 9th edition of the biennial Mt Hood Diabetes Challenge held recently at the German Diabetes Center (Deutsches Diabetes-Zentrum) in Düsseldorf.

Professor Philip Clarke, Dr An Duy Tran, Mr Josh Knight and Mr Jay Stiles from the Centre for Health Policy attended the recent annual meeting of the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research (CEPAR).

Associate Professor Kim Dalziel, Dr An-Duy Tran, Dr Natalie Carvalho and Ms Michelle Tew recently presented at the 40th Australian Health Economics Society (AHES) conference in Hobart, Tasmania.

In many countries, birth rates are slowing to more sustainable levels. Professor Peter McDonald says women are the driving force behind the change.

Are you on PPI medication for GERD or heartburn? New research by Dr An Duy Tran has found an association between some popular acid reflux treatments and iron deficiency.

Effective cancer services and treatments increasingly depend on high-quality data insights. Professor Maarten IJzerman addresses the challenges at a joint VCCC-MSPGH seminar.

This course is designed for those who are involved in the development of evaluation frameworks, guidelines or plans for programs or projects in the public health field.

The Centre for Health Policy Visiting Health Economic Scholars Program is now open to applicants.

On May 21st the Lowitja Institute held a forum for policy makers in Canberra where Prof. Margaret Kelaher and Ms Francine Eades presented the report An Evaluation Framework to Improve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health.

Ms You Wu, a graduate from the Health Economics Stream, has received a 2017 Dean's Honours Award.

Professor Maarten J. IJzerman, Chair of Cancer Health Services Research to the Centre for Health Policy.

Presenter: Professor Philip Clarke (Director, Centre for Health Policy). This seminar provides a broad overview of the development of economic methods for evaluating public health and medical interventions prior to the 1970s.

Drs Kim Dalziel and Li Huang recently shared pediatric health economic research at the PAS meeting in Toronto attended by over 8000 participants.

The University of Melbourne is hosting a half‐day workshop to highlight how  routinely collected data can be used to address policy‐relevant questions.

Members of the Health Economics Unit, Professor Philip Clarke, Dr An-Duy Tran, Xinyang Hua and Michelle Tew contributed to a recent publication in Value in Health, Computer Modelling of Diabetes and Its Transparency: A Report on the Eight Mount Hood Challenge.

Researchers from the Centre for Workplace Leadership at the University of Melbourne, launched findings from a project titled, Attitudes to Ageing in Australia, on Tuesday 27th March.

The Centre for Health Policy organised a recent policy forum to re-examine and celebrate the 50th anniversary of a landmark speech by the former Prime Minister Edward Gough Whitlam.

Prof Philip Clarke recently organised a one-day workshop at the University of Melbourne to focus on ways to improve peer review of research grants.

Professor Philip Clarke and Dr An Duy Tran delievered lectures at the Public Health International Workshop, Pasteur Institit, Ho Ch Ming, Vietnam

Jay Stiles and Professor Philip Clarke wrote a summer reading list for the nation’s health ministers.

Professor Philip Clarke, Dr An-Duy Tran, Dr Natalie Carvalho, Dr Li Huang, Ms XinYang Hua and Ms Michelle Tew presented at the recent Australian Health Economics Society (AHES) conference held September 21-22 in Sydney, NSW. The annual AHES conference is the largest health economics meeting in Australia, and provides a platform for the presentation and discussion of current research in the application of economics to health and health care systems in Australia and globally.

Revisiting Whitlam's Vision for Health: Economists, Data and Efficiency Forum Friday 6th October, Old Parliament House, Canberra ACT 2600

Professor Philip Clarke was recently interviewed on the history of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme as part of the weekly Radio National program, The Money.

Dr Kim Dalziel presented at the recent Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) meeting held May 6-9 at the Moscone West Convention Center in San Francisco, the largest Pediatric Research meeting in the world.

Fifty years after we passed a constitutional referendum to count Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Australian Census, data limitations mean they are still not counted in many health statistics.

The former Prime Minister of Australia Gough Whitlam noted in 1967 that one of the problems in discussing health policy in Australia is the lack of reliable official information.

A study published today in the journal PloS Medicine has found that implementing taxes and subsidies could improve diet and population health in Australia.

About this time last year, Australia’s National Health Performance Authority (NHPA) decided not to release data on death rates across Australia’s hospitals.

A study by researchers from the Centre for Health Policy has been referred to by media outlets around the world.

Christmas holidays can be a risky time for both your bank balance and your state of mind, but there is also some research indicating it is a time when you are at higher risk of dying from a heart attack.

Dr Kim Dalziel,  Senior Research Fellow from the Health Economics Unit in the Centre for Health Policy, has been awarded the Harkness Fellowship by the Commonwealth Fund.

Professor Tony Blakely has recently joined the Health Economics Unit in the Centre for Health Policy on a fractional appointment.

A recent paper, Growth of linked hospital data use in Australia: a systematic review, has been published in the Australian Health Review.

Professor Philip Clarke and Professor Peter McDonald from the Centre for Health Policy are part of a successful ARC Centre of Excellence, which has just received $27.25m in national competitive research funding.

Dr. An Duy Tran has recently joined the Health Economics Unit as a Senior Researcher.

The Evaluation and Implementation Science stream will be holding a workshop at the International Public Policy Association Workshop being held in Pittsburgh in June 2018 on the topic of Promoting Participation in Health and Social Policy Services and Evaluation.

A policy forum recently re-examined and celebrated the 50th anniversary of a landmark speech by the former Prime Minister Edward Gough Whitlam.

Public Event: 13th November 2017, Melbourne Town Hall

Laura Serrant is Professor of Nursing in the Faculty of Health and Wellbeing at Sheffield Hallam University in England. She is Chair of the Chief Nursing Officer for England's black and minority ethnic BME Strategic Advisory group and a 2017 Florence Nightingale Leadership Scholar.

Members of the Evaluation Implementation Science stream participated in two panels at the International Conference for Public Policy in Singapore in June 2017.

A workshop was recently held for the Better Indigenous Genetic (BIG) Health Services project, a national partnership project that aims to improve the provision of clinical genetic services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

In hectic hospital emergency rooms communication is critical but often difficult. Part of the answer is cleverly designed spaces for staff to talk in that can help reduce mistakes and stress loads.

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is designed to provide access to personalised supports and services for all Australians with a disability. However, the NDIS specifically excludes prisoners.

A recent article published in the International Journal of Epidemiology has shed a light on trends of first authorship in global health research.

The Hallmark Ageing Research Initiative invites applications for seed funding. Grants will be awarded from a pool of $80,000 with the view to funding 3-4 projects. The scheme supports projects showing potential for future funding.

Adj A/Prof Terri Jackson was recently a runner up for the HSRAANZ Health Services Research Impact award.

Research has linked the Australian Government’s Closing the Gap measures, which reduced the cost of medicines for Indigenous Australians, with a decrease in the rates of hospitalisations for chronic health conditions.

Dr Rosemary McKenzie, Deputy Director of the Centre for Health Policy and Director of Teaching and Learning of the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, has recently been promoted to Associate Professor.

Dr Lucio Naccarella and Associate Professor Robyn Woodward-Kron, guest editors for an upcoming issue of the Australian Health Review journal, encourage you to submit papers on Health Literacy.

How can traditional Indigenous and biomedical health systems complement each other and what are the implications for public health policy? Anthropologist Professor Ana Maria Oyarce from the University of Chile will address this question in a public lecture as part of her appointment as a 2017 Miegunyah Distinguished Visiting Fellow.

General practitioners are referring children more frequently to paediatricians, leading to blowouts in wait times and concerns that GPs are less confident in treating children with complex or chronic conditions.

Professor Ana María Oyarce will be visiting the Centre for Health Policy in November 2016 after being successfully nominated for the Miegunyah Distinguished Visiting Fellowship Program.

State governments need to work much harder to attract specialists into public hospitals and clinics, to tackle growing waiting lists to see a specialist, a University of Melbourne researcher says.

Peita Price a PhD student within the School of Population and Global Health has been awarded The Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand (CSANZ) Nursing Affiliate Prize.

A study conducted by researchers from the Centre for Health Policy has shed light on the distribution of malpractice claims among physicians.

Dr Lucio Naccarella, Senior Research Fellow at the Health Systems and Workforce Unit in the Centre for Health Policy, has recently been awarded a High Commendation at the European Healthcare Design Awards 2016 ceremony.

Professor Peter McDonald has recently joined the Centre for Health Policy as Professor of Demography and Head of the new Demography Unit.

A technical paper describing variations in mortality between different Commonwealth Electorates and associated voting patterns has been published today.

A Victorian study has revealed inconsistent accuracy with Emergency Department triaging of low to moderate urgency presentations involving children.

More than 70 per cent of all lower-urgency visits to Emergency Departments at Victorian hospitals between 2002 and 2013 could have been appropriately treated at GP clinics, new research has found – with the number increasing to 90 per cent among children aged 0-4 years.

Ex-prisoners with a history of risky drug use, mental illness or poverty are more likely to end up back behind bars, a new University of Melbourne study has revealed. And those who are obese, are chronically ill or have attempted suicide are more likely to remain in the community, the research found.