Minister Ged Kearney MP on the first National Climate and Health Strategy for Australians

0:00 so Minister Cony thank you so much for spending some time with us today to talk about climate change and he pleasure thank you I really wanted to start by asking you and particularly because of your background as a clinician what do you see is the relationship between climate change and health well I think it's absolutely integral the World Health Organization lists climate change as one of the greatest threats to health and I myself I'm a nurse you know

0:25 Elizabeth and very proudly to say that I was one of the founding members of haha and so for a long time I've been advocating for the connection between a health system that actually takes into account the effects of climate change so in some ways in the labor party it was a no-brainer for me to be a champion and an advocate for this I was very pleased to find that there were a lot of supporters in the

0:49 party it really wasn't a hard sell to make sure that it was part of our election commitment before the last election that we would develop a climate and health strategy I think is absolutely integral to the health and wealth well beinging of all Australians I've got to give a shout out to the wonderful Jenny mallister who is also a big driving force behind this and has worked very hard with me to make sure that we listen to the community that

1:11 we know we get the experts in and we draw up a climate and health strategy that we think will have an impact so why do we need a national strategy for this though well good question we are a federation as you know and I think you will find that in different states there's different levels of activity there's different policies there's things happening at an individual Hospital level there's things happening amongst you know doctors

1:42 for the environment nurses for the environment there's all lots of little things happening where there's growing awareness that we need a climate and health strategy the thing I think that I'm trying to do at a federal level is bring all of that together so it is cohesive that it's effective and that it's right across the whole country and we draw all of those interested parties together not the least of which of course are our consumers and thank you

2:05 very much for the role you play but also First Nations communities our our health professionals everybody really politicians policy makers we need them all to come together a admit that's something we need to work on B have a strategic policy around it and implement it effectively so it was launched last year at cop how did how did it come over how did people what did people say was great I've got to say it was a bit of

2:33 a whirlwind I actually went to the cop which was great to start with and we held a an event where I launched it and I was overwhelmed we had a huge number of people there from all walks of life from different countries and it was I've got to say very very well received I was delighted that we had the luiga Institute there we had First Nations Ambassador we had policy makers from the Pacific area particularly our neighbors who as we

3:04 know are quite affected by climate change so it was very well received and then coming back home we've done a lot of work with stakeholders as you would know because you were part of that and and there was people were generally very supportive of the strategy it's a good beginning yes a good beginning which is what I heard a lot of but it's certainly comprehensive and I think covers all bases so very well receed back home as well yeah that's terrific

3:32 so hot day today Melbourne yeah what's this summer taught you really about how we should be managing climate change and its impact on our health well the strategy goes to four areas and I think it's kind of helpful to bring that in at the moment so the first thing talking about heat waves is to make sure that the health system is set up to deal with a climate changing environment if you like do we know does our

4:01 system know how to deal with the health impacts of climate change heat waves floods tropical diseases moving south anxiety about climate change so what the strategy suggests on that score is that we do a vulnerability capability and adaptation assessment lots of words in there but basically we look at the system is it fit for purpose in a climate changing world so that's one of the things the second thing of course is that the health system is a major

4:30 emitter so how do we decarbonize the health system I think some Reports say it's between 7 and 9% of all emissions comes from the health system which is extraordinary y so we need to decarbonize and there's lots of things happening right around the country on that score from waste reduction to changing gases that we use to having electric vehicles you electric fleets we've got lots of good examples around the world which brings me to the third part of the strategy which is

5:00 international collaboration so what are other countries doing are there global supply chain issues that we can look at we signed up to the alliance for transformative action on climate change at the cop which I was terribly proud of so that is a Global Alliance of people looking at this very issue and of course it's about you know working with our direct neighbors I mentioned the Pacific in particular before and then the last thing which is something that I was very to get into

5:30 the policy and that is a health in all policies approach so you know very well you and I talk about all the time the social determinance of Health we need to make sure that housing is fit for service you know it can adapt to climate change we need to make sure that there's great First Nations involvement in all of this we need you know every policy that we look at has to take into account's impact on

5:55 climate so that's a big job yeah but nevertheless it's in the policy it's in the strategy and we're going to work on that well it is hot in Melbourne my teenagers were trying to convince me that they shouldn't have to go to school today or tomorrow because the school wasn't fit for this climate change of the heat I told them that my mother never let me have a day off school for heat and they weren't likely to get one

6:17 either well good for them but I did reflect that you know just because we've put up with some of these things in the past doesn't mean we should continue down that track so there may be hope for them yet I hope they don't watch this so you've talked about the the strategy in its sections and really what it looks to the Health Care sector to do what can consumers do I mean how do we manage our health given climate change well

6:40 first of all I think really be involved in the discussion like so do I for you know the consumer health forum is just so important in that respect having a consumer's perspective so we just on the consultation issue we went far and wide to consult on the strategy as you know we held round taes we we consulted with health professionals we had surveys we did as much as we possibly could to get what our community needed and it it varied

7:12 from things like you're saying like what do we do in extreme heat events what do you do if you're homeless what do you do if you can't afford air conditioning if your house isn't insulated what do we actually do in that event right through to you know mitigation like how do we make sure our health system is not contributing to climate change so that was important having that that voice there at the table I think

7:43 being aware that climate change can impact your health like very small things very small things from making sure you cover up from mosquitoes no something is as small as that right through to making sure that you do see seek out cool places when it's extra hot you know if you know you're in a flood prone area know what to do know who the who the services are where you go for help etc etc I think you know there's lots of services

8:11 out there they're hard to find at the moment I think do you think it's bit hard for people to actually navigate that and to know what they can actually do about it but it's a very good question maybe you're better to answer that one do you think well I think that prevention is really important Health prevention so reflecting on you talked about you know waste and things generated through health services and what does it mean if we're actually

8:35 doing a better job of keeping people well what are the impacts for that both in then better managing any climate change and the impact on health and also reducing the waste which can also lead to further climate change how do you think taking a preventative approach keeps people well reduces waste do you think that's important in thinking about how we manage the climate change Health kind of connection so sort of like act local think Global that type of approach absolutely we we

9:06 saw a we went to the Children's Hospital in Sydney this week and they have an incredible Waste Management plan that involves patients the community when they come into the hospital and the staff it's very complicated I won't take you through it all but the how they've set it all up but the point is that at the user end it's very easy M to know where to put each bit of your waste they recycle they keep stuff out of land

9:34 waste they reuse they have a Marketplace for nearly expired goods and it's fascinating so be aware of those sorts of programs I think preventative healthc care is going to be huge in this like planning ahead looking after yourself keeping as healthy as you possibly can I think that's going to be really important yeah and we talked about and you mentioned the social determinance of Health we can add perhaps commercial determinants too in terms of where healthc care is

10:04 available how do you think that your income level or your you know socioeconomic St status will determine how and when and where if you like the climate change hits you do you think that we all are impacted in the same way or do you think for some people climate change is going to be more catastrophic it's a good question I think there's no doubt that for some people it's catastrophic it's all about where you can afford to live mhm

10:34 and often they are in the least protected areas they might be in low-lying areas for example if you're in heat flood prone areas you may not be able to afford to insulate your house or keep your house cool I think you know absolutely there are people that are more vulnerable than others there are some aspects of climate change of course that affect everybody you know migration of tropical diseases and Cyclones Etc but

11:05 definitely I think there's a socioeconomic impact that needs to be taken into account in the strategy yeah so what would you say to people who perhaps are struggling with some of the issues you've just raised what are the things maybe that are within their control that they could manage like I would say what can you do to keep yourself healthy because the healthier you are the better that you'll be able to manage this but you might have some

11:27 other ideas about how do you manage if your income can't be fixed overnight what can you do well the government's very aware of the cost of living pressures on households right now and I think you and I were talking about before it's really important for people to know for example if they reach the safety net on their medications from then on in it's free you don't have to not you know stop buying your medications but the government as

11:50 you know has introduced some wonderful measures very recently in the health space to help with cost of living we Tri the bulk billing incentives so we've just seen some data to show that that has stopped the freeall in bulk billing rates and in fact has increased fairly significantly in Rural and Regional areas which is great news we have the the tw- monthly the two scripts for the price of one you don't have to go to the doctor every

12:19 month or go to the pharmacist every month to get your script you can get double scripts now it might be two months or it might be six months or it might be a year depending on how often you get a script we have introduced hourong sessions for GPS so you can actually spend a bit more time at the doctor and the doctors get remuneration for long consults we have a raft of other cost of living measures we just made sure that

12:48 there's been a massive redistribution of wealth with our redesigning of the stage three tax cuts so that more of that money goes to lower socioeconomic demographic and then there's a rafter measures that you know you know cheaper Child Care cheaper energy bills so the government is really focused on keeping particularly Health Care costs down as far as we possibly can we're starting to see the benefits of that the cheaper medicines like we've had the first ever cut to the

13:18 PBS first ever it's went from $42 to $30 to get a a drug on the PBS so we're really trying and we're hoping that very soon people will start to feel those kick in around their cost of living pressures yeah I mean you can see the government making a lot of moves but there's only so much within your control because they're also the commercial elements correct so people talk about particularly to us the out- of- pocket

13:42 costs and these are often determined by whoever's running that that clinical business now I think Australians would all be be supportive that people need to make a living wage if they're running a business they need to be able to you know pay for their rent and pay for their staff but some of these out of pocket I mean we hear about psychiatrists charging $950 for 45 minute consultation and that that's just you know one example people just

14:08 simply can't afford them so then they defer their care or they have to make all kinds of very difficult decisions how does the government have any plans for helping to resolve somehow these commercial issues yeah they're hard issues to tackle and a lot of it I think is the way historically Health Systems been funded federally we have a FIFA service model with Medicare and I think that was okay

14:39 in the 80s when it was set up when there was more episodic EP you know points of care we now in 2024 we have a lot more people living with chronic disease they're living like cancer itself is a chronic disease now people are living for a long time with cancer we know that mental health issues are growing as you pointed out so we are looking at how we fund

15:11 Health the health system for example we brought in my medicare which is a it's a way to sort of block fund a primary health care provider to care for someone with a chronic disease so you get Block funding it takes away that type of episodic care they still get their episodic MBS item number for every visit but we're trying to encourage a change in how

15:41 the system works by I guess as I said block funding to get away from that fee for service care so we're hoping that that will encourage people to stay well you talked about preventative health so that they will be able to go they know that they can go to the doctor more often that the doctor knows their situation they'll have a regular GP or mental health nurse or nurse practitioner whoever's Allied Health professional whoever's in that

16:07 Primary Health Care Facility hopefully they won't end up in hospital you know nobody wants to go to hospital but it's also the most expensive point of our Healthcare System is the tertiary health system so we're working on it I think there's a lot we can learn and you spoke in the beginning about particular groups and our first Nations group and the work that's done in the controlled Health sector corre and how in they already have my medicare with

16:33 celery GPS and a lot of services available free of charge to community feels like there's a lot we can learn from that as we apply our my medicare into the kind of mainstream Services that's absolutely true and it works beautifully in that sector and and you know that that certainly is the kind of model that we are trying to encourage but also there's where I think Workforce constraints are a huge issue particularly around Mental Health Care

17:02 and access is really limited because of Workforce constraints and I think that often is driving prices up if you're talking about the market you know demand drives up prices absolutely so another thing we're doing Elizabeth is looking at the workforce scope of practice so how do we use the entire Workforce to their full capacity which gives more points of access for consumers so you know if I'm a nurse practitioner you know why can't I be

17:33 the one you come to see to have an IUD or why can't I be the one you come to see to have your wound care your wound cared for or you know if if I'm a nurse practitioner and I can do all these things in my scope of practice you should be able to come to me so we're looking at that area as well and I think increasing the capacity of the workforce will increase access and it

17:56 might change the cost Reg as well and we know when we interview consumers about this these issues they say they're really happy as long as people have the skills to have anyone really deliver their care so whether it is a nurse practitioner a original Health worker a GP whoever it is consumers want good safe care and they look forward to what might come of that review in terms of increasing the scope and I think of course we look after ourselves so we

18:22 would always advocate for Education we think education's the most powerful social determinant so health literacy people understanding how to do their own self-care well how to support their loved ones also to keep them well these are things again we'd say you know if you're trying to keep you out of pockets lower if you're trying to manage your costs how can you look after yourself and how do we and with the government and others Ure that people know what it

18:49 is that they might be able to do to help themselves and help those they love to stay well absolutely that's true and to know what is out there to know what services are out there that you and I have talked about this a lot of people don't really know you know how the services that to keep well for example I was telling you before only 40% of people access the child Dental benefit which is a great service and it

19:13 keeps your kids oral health up to dat well you know keeps the kids oral health is a huge determinant of your other overall healthare so yeah so maybe we you know have a chat about that absolutely well it's been a great pleasure to spend some time with you today as you know consumers Health Forum we are like you very keen about managing the impact of climate change on health and we really look forward to working with you on that in the future

19:39 so thank you so much for your time in thanks for having me