Reforms of care services needed, commission recommends
The Productivity Commission released its fifth and final interim report on Wednesday, noting an overhaul of the care sector is needed to boost the country's productivity.
Commissioner Alison Roberts said care is a rapidly growing sector and proposed reforms will seek to break through government's siloed approach to decision-making.
The interim report urges the government to better align quality and safety regulations across the care economy, by reducing the risk of unsafe providers and workers.
This includes a streamlined national screen clearance for workers in aged care, NDIS, veterans' care and early childhood education and care sectors.
It would make it easier for workers to move between care sectors and cut down on paperwork from providers.
"We don't have a joined up system, which means people can move from state to state or within the sector to another (workforce) and avoid detection," Dr Roberts said.
"Greater oversight and joined up systems will reduce this risk of occurring."
The interim report also recommends the establishment of a national framework to support investment in prevention.
This would allow governments the ability to invest in programs that bring long-term benefits to patients and communities.
Public Health Association of Australia chief executive Terry Slevin said the recommendation exposes a glaring flaw in the federal budget process which hampers investment in prevention.
He said the current rules don't allow for forecasting or consideration of financial and productivity benefits beyond the four-year estimates period.
"That means the long-term benefits that come from preventive health measures are excluded from influencing government decision making," he told AAP.
"This is nuts."
Professor Slevin said the report recognises the importance of preventative health, something that is a forgotten part of the health funding model.
"Prevention has an enormous benefit and of course being able to live longer and healthier lives is really the key benefit," he said.
"The PC provides that economic lens for us to think again about how we approach investment in making our health better rather than just fixing us when we're crook."
The report also calls for integrated and tailored care through collaboration, which would see hospital and primary health networks work together with Aboriginal community controlled health organisations.
This will improve the quality of care and promote local autonomy, which could reduce potentially preventable hospitalisations and other gaps in service provision.
The commission estimates a 10 per cent drop in preventable hospitalisations through better collaboration could save $600 million annually.
Business, union and civil society leaders will come together with experts and government representatives at a three-day economic reform roundtable, which begins on August 19.
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