Victoria signs National Health Reform Agreement

5 August 2011

Following a series of extensive negotiations, the Victorian Government has signed the National Health Reform Agreement with the Commonwealth Government.

The new agreement draws heavily on the Victorian health service model, including activity-based funding and local hospital governance arrangements.

It also protects other important strengths of Victoria's health system, including local hospital boards and the Home and Community Care arrangements.

Key highlights of the agreement are:

• a devolved system of hospital governance based on the existing Victorian model, with states remaining public hospital system managers and the Victorian hospital governance structure remaining the same
• the injection of an additional $16.4 billion nationally in efficient growth funding for hospitals from 2014-15 to 2019-20, providing up to $4.1 billion extra for Victoria
• the retention of funding for Victorian hospitals under state legislative and financial control through the agreed funds pooling arrangements, ensuring that Victorian hospital funding remains in Victoria
• no Commonwealth take back of Victoria's GST revenue
• Victorian Government to play a key role in decisions regarding which hospitals will be block funded
• up to $822 million from 2009-10 to 2015-16 to help meet challenging performance targets for elective surgery and emergency department access, plus deliver new subacute beds
• new national agencies including an Independent Hospital Pricing Authority, National Health Funding Pool, and National Health Performance Authority
• State government access to Commonwealth health data to assist in the planning of Victorian health services
• establishment of Medicare Locals nationally to coordinate and integrate primary care
• system wide policy and State-wide planning for GP and primary health care services
• the exemption of Victoria from the Commonwealth takeover of responsibility for Home and Community Care (HACC) services.