In the lead up to the Australian Federal Budget in May 2023, Australian Health Journal reached out to peak health industry bodies to hear about their priorities, either noted in pre-budget submissions lodged with Federal Government in January 2023 or in recent forums such as the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce.

Others have stated their priorities directly with Federal Government. Through these interviews, AHJ gives a final opportunity to communicate to all health stakeholders, the funding needs for a range of priorities. These range from new models of care to pilots and wholesale, system improvements to building more sustainable workforces to help grow certain sectors of the health system

The Chief Executive Officer of Osteopathy Australia, Antony Nicholas spoke with Australian Health Journal about:

• Involvement in the Strengthening Medicare Task Force
• The unique skills osteopaths have that can address the chronic disease burden
• Current workforce issues around osteopaths and if enough are coming through via student placements
• How uploading data to My Health Record by osteopaths could assist team-based care of patients
• How can the value of osteopaths in Residential Aged Care Facilities (RACFs) could be better understood and available to residents
• The recommendations around aged care access to allied health services, including osteopathy
• The recommendations around consumer access to osteopaths and GP referrals
• Other osteopathy recommendations in the upcoming Federal Budget