The State Government has released the Independent Review of the Victorian Public Service (the “Silver Review”) and announced its response. The Review is a broad examination of public sector spending with several findings relevant to health, noting rising health expenditure, continued reliance on emergency departments for lower-urgency care and ongoing budget instability across services.
AMA Victoria provided comment to The Age on the Review and the Government’s response. As President Dr Simon Judkins said:
“There is no doubt there are significant financial pressures that all hospitals are under. We are mindful that we need to manage costs. But quick and easy savings are not real solutions. Both the review and the government response state that there will be no cuts to frontline healthcare workers, and we will hold them to that.”
Members continue to report significant pressure across the system. Any changes flowing from the Review must ease that pressure rather than add to it. Stability for frontline services remains essential.
The most significant structural shift accepted by the Government is the dissolution of VicHealth as an independent agency and the absorption of its functions into the Department of Health. This is a major concern for AMA Victoria.
VicHealth has been an independent, prevention-focused agency for nearly forty years. Its separation from the acute system has been central to its impact. Absorbing it into departmental structures risks weakening that independence and signalling that prevention is being de-prioritised at a time when public health indicators are already heading in the wrong direction.
Strong, credible prevention infrastructure takes decades to build. It can be lost quickly. This move raises real questions about how Victoria will protect long-term population health, sustain community confidence and maintain focus on chronic disease prevention.
AMA Victoria and the AMA have written to the Government asking it to review this plan, safeguard preventive health funding and ensure that oversight of prevention remains independent and evidence based. We have also sought a meeting to discuss options that preserve VicHealth’s work and keep prevention central to the health system.