Dietitians Australia is welcoming the Productivity Commission's interim report, Delivering care more efficiently, as a milestone opportunity for the Australian Government to rethink and strengthen investment in preventive healthcare, including timely and equitable access to dietitians.
The peak body is urging the Government to strongly support the recommendation to establish a National Prevention Investment Framework, in close collaboration with dietitians and the preventive healthcare sector.
"The true cost of the lack of nutrition in Australians' eating patterns doesn't show up neatly on a balance sheet, but it's draining our workforce, our health system and ultimately our economy," Dietitians Australia Chief Executive Officer Magriet Raxworthy said.
"Inadequate nutrition can impact the day-to-day lives of Australians, their ability to show up to work, fuelled with energy to function and thrive well.
"Investing in dietitians to bolster the preventive healthcare workforce will truly transform the way Australians live and work, this is true productivity.
"Individualised nutrition guidance and counselling from dietitians empowers Australians with critical nutrition literacy and individualised behaviour change support.
"With better nutrition, Australians can and will be more productive, avoid unnecessary hospitalisations and improve their ability to fully contribute to the economy.
"To realise this, we need the Government and health policy makers to fully activate dietitians in early childhood education centres, schools and primary health care settings across Australia.
"Investing in and embedding dietitians as a core part of preventive multidisciplinary care is long overdue.
"We too echo the calls from the Public Health Association of Australia for urgent adjustments to the Federal Budget rules, which currently prevent the Government from factoring in the long-term benefits of investing in health prevention, beyond the four-year estimates cycle.
"We are long overdue for a major overhaul in how we manage upstream preventive healthcare funding in this country, and it is beyond question that investing in quality dietetic care will ultimately lead to a healthier, more productive Australia.
