Super for IVF, but with a catch
Couples will still be granted early access to retirement savings to pay for IVF — but only if they have a diagnosed mental illness.
Health
Fentanyl ‘epidemic’ a deadly threat
Up to 6000 people could die in Australia if the US experience of fentanyl is replicated here.
Health ‘rorters gaming system’
Doctors and providers accused of misusing Medicare are using lawyers to ‘game the system’, the Health Department has been told.
Rip-off fears on super for weight loss
Allowing early access to superannuation to pay for weight-loss surgery and other healthcare ‘could see people ripped off’.
Medicines bill set to jump
Analysts say the nation’s medicines bill is likely to spike because of lifestyle-related diseases, reaching up to $15.8bn a year.
Police called to target rorts on Medicare
The Health Department is working with police on a test case to seize the assets of Medicare rorters.
Dingo’s campfire chats a dose of reality TV
Actor Ernie Dingo has returned from TV exile with a confronting and honest series of films about indigenous men.
‘Activism needed to stamp out bullying’
Bullying and sexism in the medical profession will require activism to resolve, the Medical Board has been told.
Professor backs permanent drug-test centres
A medical professor has backed the idea of a centralised drug-testing facility in capital cities, following a spate of overdoses.
Aged-care tsar eyes risky homes
New aged-care enforcer Janet Anderson says she will target providers that show a pattern of abuses and compliance breaches.
![EXCLUSIVE: A relaxed Julia Gillard was spotted at her beach side suburb of Brighton in Adelaide. Almost in time for the new year the former Australian prime minister Julia Gillard was getting exercise in briskly walking on the beach with a female friend. Julia wore a casual grey shirt, black pants and blue trainers and blended in with all the other morning walkers. Almost 5 years of the famous leadership spill involving her and Kevin Rudd. The two have recently reconciled and seemed to have put the past behind them. Julia looks much happier these days in retirement and keeps herself busy working on the board of Beyond Blue and touring the world giving talks. 01 Jan 2019 Pictured: Julia Gillard. Photo credit: MEGA TheMegaAgency.com +1 888 505 6342 (Mega Agency TagID: MEGA330797_011.jpg) [Photo via Mega Agency]](https://content.api.news/v3/images/bin/343963a3ebfca82603b2042b0440eb10?width=650)
Simplicity ‘key to mental health’
Julia Gillard has posted a message on the website of Beyond Blue, revealing how she coped with the stresses of political life.
Board accused of trying to silence doctors
Doctors say a push to consider cultural sensitivities, for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, undermines patient safety.
29 sexual assault reports in NDIS
A new disability watchdog that covers just two states has received 29 reports of sexual assault against NDIS participants.
Leaders call for pill test evidence
Two states have now flagged possible trials of illicit pill testing at music festivals.
Ambulance gridlock at ‘basket case’ hospital
Paramedics have again hit out at Adelaide’s crisis-plagued hospital system.
Chinese herbal cough pill recalled
A Chinese herbal medicine company has issued an urgent recall of two batches of its products.
Premier softens pill test stance
Gladys Berejiklian says she is open to pill testing at music festivals if the government is shown evidence it would save lives.
Festival drug deaths rise as risks ignored
A 20-year-old man in Victoria is the latest person to die from a suspected drug overdose at a music festival.
Labor risks free hand for insurers
Labor’s bid to examine health insurance premium increases may inadvertently reignite the industry’s push for deregulation.
Raids to hit rogue health insurers
Tough new powers granted to the ombudsman have put the health insurance industry on notice of closer scrutiny.
Medicare control that almost was
The Howard government considered taking total control over Medicare provider numbers given to doctors.
Festival pill-testing ‘lacks accuracy’
The death at the weekend of Josh Tam, 22, at a NSW festival has stoked new debate about whether pill-testing should be allowed.
Hospitals being bled by foreign tourists
Tens of millions of dollars in public hospital debts are being run up by tourists each year.
Restraint use worry for mentally ill kids
An alarming number of children are being subjected to physical or mechanical restraint in Queensland’s mental health facilities.
Pilates in a sweat as rebates tighten
Looming restrictions on health insurance coverage for natural therapies have practitioners worried about a sudden drop-off in customers.
Laws that change from Jan 1
The tampon tax, energy bills, lifesaving medicines; all the laws that will change from New Year’s Day.
Online peptides carry crime risk
A summer obsession with bigger muscles, flatter stomachs and deeper tans may carry the sting of criminal penalties.
Health rights ‘a danger to nurses’
Queensland’s proposed ‘right to health services’ could force nurses to put themselves at risk to treat ice-affected patients.
‘Fast-track tool’ to save aged-care sector $250m
Bureaucrats will use a new, one-hour analysis tool to work out the needs of older Australians destined for care in a system overhaul.
Child mental health aid now at ‘breaking point’
Psychiatrists say child mental healthcare services are at ‘breaking point’ across NSW.
Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/health/page/5