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$Unique_ID{COW00200}
$Pretitle{369}
$Title{Australia
Chapter 4B. Activities of the Federal Government}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Donald P. Whitaker}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{health
government
federal
million
national
services
department
mental
territory
australian}
$Date{1974}
$Log{}
Country: Australia
Book: Australia, A Country Study
Author: Donald P. Whitaker
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date: 1974
Chapter 4B. Activities of the Federal Government
Until 1973 the most important role of the federal government in the area
of public health was the administration of the various medical,
pharmaceutical, and hospital benefits provided for by national law (see Social
Services and Welfare, this ch.). In addition to these social welfare benefits,
the federal government was responsible for enforcing the quarantine of
communicable diseases for plants and animals as well as for humans, for
maintaining a free milk program for schoolchildren, for administering a number
of commonwealth health service organizations, and for providing public health
services for the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory. The
government has also conducted several mass immunization campaigns.
These responsibilities were executed from 1973 by the federal Department
of Health, headed by a minister for health, a cabinet-level appointee only
since the administration of Whitlam. Under the federal budget for fiscal
1971/72, total expenditures for health amounted to over A $687 million, and in
fiscal 1972/73 over A $783 million. Expenditures of nearly A $979 million were
proposed for 1973/74.
The federal government also worked with the states and private
organizations, especially free milk distribution for schoolchildren and the
campaign against tuberculosis. Each of the states administered a program
providing a daily milk supplement to schoolchildren; the federal government
paid the whole cost of the milk and half of the operating expenses. Similarly,
each state operated an antituberculosis campaign, and the national government
assisted in an advisory capacity and reimbursed the states for a large
proportion of their capital outlay. The national government also provided for
an allotment to tuberculars in order to enable them to leave work and seek
treatment, helping to stem the spread of the disease by keeping carriers out
of the work force and relatively isolated from the population. Cash benefits
to tuberculars and grants to the states ranged between A $12 million and A $13.5
million annually over a five-year period ending in fiscal 1971/72.
The federal Department of Health administered three mass immunization
programs: one against poliomyelitis, starting in 1956; one against measles, on
the recommendation of the National Health and Medical Research Council, which
was begun in 1970; and one against rubella (German measles) started in 1971.
Under the provisions of the National Health Act of 1953-71 there was
established the Health Laboratory Service, which provided fifteen diagnostic
and investigational laboratories situated throughout Australia. The Department
of Health also operated the Commonwealth Serum Laboratory, located in
Melbourne. This laboratory has been Australia's largest supplier of insulin,
penicillin, blood fractions, and a variety of other biological medicines and
veterinary vaccines and medicines. Other medical organizations operated by the
Department of Health included the Commonwealth X-ray and Radium Laboratory,
the Commonwealth Acoustic Laboratories, the School of Public Health and
Tropical Medicine, the Institute of Child Health, and the Australian Institute
of Anatomy. Since 1936 the National Health and Medical Research Council has
served as the chief advisory body of the national and state governments on
matters pertaining to public health and public health administration.
One area in which the federal government appeared to be expanding its
services in 1973 involved the establishment and financing of relatively small
health centers under the auspices of local groups working through state health
authorities. The health centers were to provide free health services from a
salaried staff of physicians at government expense. In November 1973 the
federal health minister was reported to have envisaged these health centers as
eventually providing 80 to 90 percent of the general practitioner needs of the
country. In 1973 around A $10 million was reported to have been spent on this
project, A $30 million was projected for 1974, and another A $30 million was
projected for 1975. Some observers felt that this was an attempt by the
Australian Labor Party (ALP) government to provide what amounted to socialized
medicine without having to contend with the stiff opposition offered by the
minority parties and the established medical professional organizations.
The federal government also provided financial assistance to a number of
private health organizations. These included the Royal Flying Doctor Service;
the Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service, operated by the Australian Red Cross
Society; and the National Heart Foundation.
The Department of Health also handled public health administration for
the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory. In 1972 six
general hospitals were being operated in the Northern Territory, and medical
and dental services were provided for isolated individuals both by road and by
air. The Department of Health also operated a general hospital and nursing
home in Canberra, and the accompanying Commonwealth Health Laboratory, as well
as certain prenatal and infant care services.
Mental Health
Detailed information on the state of mental health and mental health
services was not readily available. The suicide rate in 1970 for men was
seventeen per 100,000 population, which was over twice the rate for women.
Emphasis in the treatment of the mentally ill has shifted from institutions
designed to care for the certified insane to a variety of services in mental
hospitals, psychiatric wards of general hospitals, psychiatric units attached
to penal and juvenile corrective institutions, and outpatient clinics.
There were sixty-six mental hospitals in Australia in 1970; they treated
a total of 39,245 inpatients during the 1969-70 period. Neither the Northern
Territory nor the Australian Capital Territory had a separate mental
institution. In fiscal 1969/70 nearly A $100 million was spent by the states on
mental health.