The Federal Government must use its upcoming Budget to fund health workforce training and address the life-threatening inequities facing people with intellectual disability, the Centre of Excellence in Intellectual Disability Health has warned.
The call coincides with the release of the Centre’s new Workforce Education and Training Position Statement, which identifies health workforce training as a critical and immediately achievable step to improve health care for people with intellectual disability.
Centre Director, Scientia Professor Julian Trollor, said the evidence to support investment in education and training for health professionals is overwhelming.
"People with intellectual disability are dying, on average, 27 years earlier than other Australians, often from preventable conditions," Professor Trollor said.
"The system is failing health professionals by not giving them the training they need. Education is what turns good intentions into safer care."
Prof Trollor said despite decades of research, people with intellectual disability continue to face higher rates of preventable illness, delayed diagnosis, communication barriers and poorer health outcomes across their life.
The Centre's Position Statement calls for a nationally coordinated approach to educating and training the current and future health workforce so they have the knowledge and skills needed to provide high-quality, inclusive health care to people with intellectual disability.
"Australia does not currently have a consistent, national framework to ensure health workers are trained in intellectual disability health," Professor Trollor said.
"That gap has real consequences. This is not an abstract policy issue - it is costing lives."
As a practical next step, the Centre is calling on the Federal Government to commit $10 million over four years to fund scholarships for primary health care professionals to undertake continuing professional development in intellectual disability health.
"This is a modest investment with the potential for enormous impact," Professor Trollor said.
"The Federal Government signalled its commitment to addressing health care for people with intellectual disability in the recent MYEFO which included funding for the continuation of the Primary Care Enhancement Program - a pilot program designed to help health professional deliver better care for people with intellectual disability. We all know the issue is important, we just need to start rolling out the solutions.
"Health professionals consistently tell us they want to deliver better care, but most have never received any training in this area. Right now, that training simply isn’t available at the scale required."
The funding would represent a concrete next step in delivering the National Roadmap for Improving the Health of People with Intellectual Disability, to which the Federal Government has repeatedly committed.
"We already have the evidence, the roadmap and the expertise. The upcoming Budget is an opportunity for the Federal Government to turn commitments into action and begin closing a health gap that has persisted for far too long."
Media contact: Alana Mew - 0419 929 722
