Month: August 2025

Meet your HCCWA team: Aimee Riddell

Posted on August 18, 2025

Our team works hard for the people of WA, we’re passionate about making a difference in the lives of West Aussies and working hard to make patients, carers, loved ones – all health consumers – are at the centre of our healthcare system to make healthcare fair.

We’d like you to meet Aimee, our Engagement and Advocacy Coordinator.

How long have you worked at HCCWA?

2.5 years

What inspired you to work at HCCWA?

Over the years, I’ve worked in roles where I helped people find their way through the health system and speak up for the care they needed. I often found myself pointing them to HCCWA or using their resources to help someone understand their rights, make a complaint, or support a friend or family member through their healthcare journey.

Seeing how important that kind of support is really stuck with me. It made me want to be part of the team at HCCWA—somewhere I could help more people feel confident to speak up and get the care that works for them. I’m passionate about making sure everyone has the tools and support they need to be heard and to get healthcare that truly meets their needs.

Describe what you do at HCCWA

My role at HCCWA is really varied, which is one of the things I love most about it. I get to be out in the community a lot—whether that’s hosting a stall at a local event, meeting with hospital consumer advisory committees, or running events to support and grow our amazing network of consumer representatives.

A big part of what I do is helping people understand their healthcare rights and how to speak up for the care they need. I draw on my past experience working directly with community members to share useful information and build confidence in navigating the health system.

What brings me the most joy is connecting with people—having real conversations, hearing their stories, and helping them feel empowered to take charge of their healthcare journey.

What do you think about HCCWA and the work we do?

HCCWA is one of the best workplaces I’ve ever been part of. It’s pretty rare to find a team where everyone is genuinely working towards the same goal—supporting people in the community and helping to shape a health system that’s fair, safe, and truly centred around the consumer voice.

There’s a real sense of shared purpose at HCCWA. Everyone brings their own strengths, and what brings us all together is the belief that people deserve to be heard and respected in their healthcare journey. It’s inspiring to be part of something that makes a real difference in people’s lives.

How do you see your work helping to improve outcomes and experiences for everyone in WA?
I see my work as part of a bigger effort to make sure everyone in WA has access to healthcare that truly meets their needs. By helping people understand their rights, speak up about their experiences, and feel confident navigating the health system, we’re not just supporting individuals—we’re helping to shift the system to be more responsive, inclusive, and person-centred.

Whether it’s through community events, supporting consumer representatives, or simply having conversations that empower people to advocate for themselves or others, every part of the work we do at HCCWA contributes to building a health system that listens, learns, and improves. And when the system works better for the people who use it, outcomes and experiences improve for everyone.

Ever met anyone famous?

Yes! While waiting in a passport line at an airport in Germany, my son, who was 6 at the time, was having an in-depth conversation with someone behind us about how they both had Australian passports. I turned around and he was deep in conversation with Cate Blanchet. She was very lovely and gave her time very graciously.

The Productivity Commission has released an Interim Report into delivering health care more efficiently

Posted on August 18, 2025

Productivity Commission report on delivering quality care

The Productivity Commission has released an Interim Report into delivering health care more efficiently. While the words “efficient” and “productivity” often spark fear as they may suggest that important things might be delivered more cheaply, this report is taking a different perspective. This time the Commission is examining how some key parts of the health system might be considered differently. We welcome all opportunities to contribute to such as we believe that applying a new lens to the way things are done can lead to better outcomes for consumers.

The areas being examined are:

Reform of safety and quality regulations – without sacrificing the important outcomes of safety and quality, making the safety and quality registration and regulation process less repetitious and more efficient.
Embedding co commissioning across the health system – finding ways that the different parts of the health system can collaborate and work together to improve integration and remove repetition.
Government investment in preventative health – examining how wide a lens to apply to preventative health, and acknowledging that the cost “savings” from preventative health are not seen in the short term, but over the course of decades.

HCCWA contributed to this interim report and are pleased to see that the interim report now continues to progress towards recommendations that would see some interesting changes in the health sector. We’ll be providing further feedback on this interim report and we welcome input from anyone in our networks who would like to share their views.

Bronwyn Ife | Systemic Advocacy and Engagement Lead

Media enquiries: 0488 701 839 | info@hconc.org.au

Housing as a health issue: Homelessness Week

Posted on August 4, 2025

As we head into Homelessness Week, we are all acutely aware of the housing crisis in Western Australia.

Recent research from Curtin University shows the depths of this crisis, with increasing numbers of people finding it hard to afford a home and over 40% of people who live in unaffordable housing experiencing poor physical or mental health. The report also tells us that homelessness in WA has risen 8% since 2016 and that the waiting list for social housing has grown to over 20 000. There are 6300 people who are considered to be of the highest priority of needs waiting for a home.

Sometimes we assume that all people experiencing homelessness are street present or “rough sleepers”. In fact, this is often not the case with many people (particularly women) who experience homelessness choosing to stay with family or friends, sleeping in their cars or staying in short term accommodation, which means they are often not visible and also underrepresented in data.

There is no debate that homelessness causes poor health with people who experience homeless experiencing much higher rates of mental health issues, stress and suicide. In addition to this, people who do not have a home tend not to access preventative health care, so their health needs are not addressed early and rapidly become more serious health concerns.

What often happens is that people who experience homelessness seek care at emergency departments of tertiary hospitals and their stay is often longer at these hospitals because there is no safe place for them to go upon discharge. The cost to the health system in treating and accommodating people who experience homelessness is considerable. In a recent study in Western Australia it was identified that over $400 000 was saved in the health system in 12 months by just three patients being placed in appropriate, safe, permanent accommodation. Hospital attendance and hospital admissions reduce significantly once housing needs are met, particularly if those housing needs include wrap around services such as integrated primary health care providers.

Of course we believe that safe, secure and permanent housing should be provided to everyone simply because it’s the right thing to do, for their physical and emotional wellbeing. However, we are aware that often times there needs to be an economic argument as well as a compassionate one, and well-designed social housing using Housing First principles seems to us to tick both boxes.

Photo by Gary Steadman of a reported bag from his LinkedIn post: “Thank you for bringing my living room to my attention.”

Housing First projects argue that housing should be provided first, rather than requiring people to meet a set of criteria before being provided with accommodation. This is a key change in the way homelessness is understood and managed, as it recognises that once someone has a home and appropriate support services nearby, it is much easier to transition into a situation where people may be able to seek work or otherwise make changes that allow less social isolation. Housing First principles make provision of housing a priority, while allowing the clients to access support services without conditions attached. The principles also eliminate the complexity of deciding who is more “worthy” of public housing, and rather just understands that housing is a human right and a health issue.

We are pleased to see some Housing First project progressing in the inner city of Perth and in Mandurah and some funding in the budget for further projects. While these projects are being built, however, we still see many street present people in our neighbourhoods, and this cold, wet weather makes us all acutely aware of how challenging and distressing this must be. We welcome initiatives like the Orange Sky mobile laundry and the Brollie Brigade who provide free mobile hot showers, haircuts and hygiene services, along with Street doctor services. These organisations work tirelessly on the front line of service provision for street present people.

We are still heartbroken though to hear stories of local government rangers removing or threatening to remove the possessions of street present people, as was highlighted recently on LinkedIn or the callous approach some local governments take to move on people who are sleeping in their vehicles or on the streets.

We consider homelessness to be a health issue, as well as a social one, and we welcome the appointment of a Minister for Preventative Health. We hope this preventative health lens takes a wide look at the social determinants of health, including housing, to ensure that housing programs continue to be a high priority for this government.