PSM UNIT 1: MANAGING UP: THE FRAMEWORK OF PUBLIC SECTOR MANAGEMENT
MAJOR ASSIGNMENT – ASSESSMENT RESPONSE SHEET FOR ESSAY
Participants – complete your details and submit with your major assignment. Your assessor will provide feedback and your grade on this sheet.
Participant to complete
Participant’s name:
Leon Scott
State/Territory: Qld
Participant’s email:
leon_scott@health.qld.gov.au
Date of submission:
02/09/2012
Assessor to complete
Assessor’s name:
Max Halupka
Mark: 88 /100
Essay on Federalism OR Accountability
Leon,
This is an excellent assignment, one that you should be very proud of.
Starting with an impressive introduction, you outline …show more content…
As for D plus high level of engagement of reader through compelling use of language.
The impact of federalism on accountability and funding of healthcare in Australia
Introduction
By international standards, Australia provides an efficient, comprehensive and universal healthcare system. We are a healthy nation and we are getting healthier. Over the last 40 years, life expectancy has increased by more than a decade, and Australia has moved from 18th to 5th in the OECD (OECD 2012). Health expenditure as share of GDP in Australia is lower than the OECD average, less than nations such as New Zealand, UK, Canada or Germany and about half the USA (Figure 1). Governments throughout the world are facing an inexorable growth in healthcare costs, although Australia has done relatively well in containing costs over the last decade (Figure 1). The Commonwealth and state governments are struggling to balance scarce resources with increasing community expectations. A task made more difficult by an ageing population and increasing chronic disease.
This essay explores how federalism has shaped accountability and funding of healthcare in Australia, focussing on coordination between Commonwealth and state governments. A lack of clarity concerning the roles and responsibilites of each level of government has long characterised Australian healthcare. This has created complex accountability arrangements and fragmented funding. Cost-shifting is used