Hansard debates

Mr McGUIRE (Broadmeadows) — The Northern Hospital now has Victoria's busiest emergency department. It treats on average more than 250 people daily. This year it is expected to treat more than 90 000 emergency patients. Built as a small community hospital, it is struggling to cope with booming population growth. An extra 500 000 people are predicted to live in Melbourne's north, meaning this region will grow to match the current population of Adelaide within two decades. More than 50 babies are born weekly in the City of Hume, with the consequential demand for increased child care, health care and hospitals. Put simply, Australia must have a needs-based health strategy.

Melbourne's north highlights the complexities of need and growth. The burden of disease is also much greater in communities faced with socio-economic disadvantage. This predicament extends to oral health, where economically and socially disadvantaged Victorians who are eligible for public dental services are most likely to experience poor oral health. Only one in four people are eligible to access public dental services under a funding model that is inequitable, according to the Victorian Auditor-General's report of December 2016.

To address the burden of disease, prevention and treatment in the communities most affected, I propose that Broadmeadows expands as a health hub, building on the assets of Dianella Health, the GP super clinic and the $20 million surgery funded by the Andrews government, which is soon to open, and I propose that we renegotiate the commonwealth's funding for dental treatment, changing the focus from episodic treatment to prevention, thus improving health and reducing costs. Health services are organised geographically. Australia needs systemic change because conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age — social determinants of health — are intimately linked to place. The World Health Organization recognises them as major causes of unjust and avoidable health differences.