Healthy Australia

The mission of the BCA is to help build Australia as the best place in the world in which to live, learn, work and do business. A healthy population is central to this aspiration, as it provides an important basis for economic and social prosperity.

As part of an evolving policy agenda, the BCA Healthy Australia Task Force is examining the contribution that business can make to the health debate and to policies determining the focus, funding, delivery and measurement of improved health outcomes.

Underlying the business sector’s aspirations for a healthy population are two important objectives. The first comes from the clear link between health and productivity. Health influences an individual’s ability to participate and be productive in the workforce.

The second objective relates to the funding and operation of the system. Business provides substantial revenues to government through taxation receipts. Health expenditures absorb 20 per cent of government outlays and this figure is projected to rise significantly as population ageing, rising consumer expectations and changing technologies place increasing demands on the system. Some suggest that by 2047 health expenditures could be the equivalent of 20 per cent of GDP. This is clearly unsustainable.

As a large contributor of government tax revenues, business has a direct interest in seeing health expenditure used as efficiently and effectively as possible. While Australia has one of the world’s better healthcare systems, few disagree that the system needs major policy reform. In addition to its financial sustainability, the blurring of accountabilities between state and federal governments, and the lack of focus on measurable outcomes, are some of the system’s more fundamental weaknesses.

The BCA Healthy Australia Task Force will be drawing on the essential disciplines of business – planning, systems thinking, quality improvement and performance measurement – to craft its involvement in this policy area.

Chairman: Mr Mark Nolan, Chairman, ExxonMobil Australia Pty Ltd
BCA Secretariat Contact: Dr Ruth Dunkin

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