The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare released a report summarizing the health of people in Australia’s prisons, finding that people in prison are disproportionately affected by poorer physical, mental, and social outcomes than the general population.
According to the report, 87 percent of people in prison had a recorded health condition, most commonly a mental health or behavioral condition, and 71 percent had been detained previously.
The report also found that First Nations people represented 37 percent of the prison population, despite making up only 2.9 percent of the adult Australian population.
The health of people in prison is a significant concern, with many prisoners experiencing mental health issues, substance abuse, and housing problems.
Locking up people with these issues is not an effective solution, and governments should focus on expanding community mental health services and building social housing instead of new prisons.
This approach could help reduce the likelihood of people being locked up again and address the root causes of crime.
The Government has proposed removing the higher premium rebate provided to people aged 65 years and older, which has sparked concern among older Australians.
The Australian Medical Association has urged the government to protect older Australians on lower incomes by exempting those on the Medicare Levy Surcharge base-tier incomes from the proposed changes.
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Health Minister Mark Butler announced changes to the Commonwealth’s drug and alcohol program, aiming to give services greater certainty, make funding more evidence-based, and build a stronger national approach to reduce harm.
New grants under the program will run for three years from July 2027, providing services with greater certainty and stability than the shorter-term funding extensions used in recent years.
They will also begin work with states and territories on developing the next National Drug Strategy, which will replace the current strategy expiring in four months.
The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing released the Statement of Expectations for the National Rural Health Commissioner for 2026-28, outlining the commissioner’s role in improving rural health outcomes.
The department also released details of the arrangements for transitioning residential aged care payments from payments in advance to payment in arrears over the next two years.
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare updated its chronic conditions dashboard and released a series of updates on aged care data, including December 2025 quarter data on younger people entering and living in residential aged care.
While the number of people under 65 in residential care continues to decline slowly, 53 under-65s entered aged care in the quarter.
MS Australia encouraged members to participate in the consultation process for the review of MS medications.
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The Australian College of Nursing called for targeted investment in the leadership and sustainability of the clinical research nurse workforce to realize the ambitions of the national research strategy, which is essential for science research in the country.
The Australian College of Nursing said clinical research nurses are poorly recognized and have little to no workforce development or formal career pathways.
The Health Services Union welcomed mandatory registration for NDIS providers and stronger whistleblower protections but said national registration of disability support workers should now follow.
The Royal Australian College of GPs released the sixth edition of the Standards for general practices, featuring new and updated topics, including environmental sustainability and artificial intelligence.
The Senate inquiry into illicit tobacco tabled its report, making 12 recommendations, including pausing any further increases to the tobacco excise and reducing the excise as part of a set of policy measures.
The Senate also began an inquiry into contaminated blood and blood products, including the scale and nature of the collection, testing, and supply of blood infected with Hepatitis C, HIV, and other viruses.
Shadow Health Minister Anne Ruston said the inquiry is not the end of the process but the beginning, aiming to finally put the issue back on the national agenda and start the work of getting survivors real answers.