The Australian healthcare system needs to move away from its traditional disease-focused approach toward addressing underlying social factors that contribute to poor health outcomes, according to a new white paper from the Australian College of Nursing (ACN).
The report, “Achieving a Socialised Model of Health Care in Australia with Nurse Leadership,” argues that the current biomedical model fails to address key determinants of health such as nutrition, housing, and poverty—contributing to rising rates of preventable chronic diseases and deepening health inequities.
“The existing biomedical healthcare model in Australia puts medicine at the centre of care, rather than people,” said ACN CEO, Adjunct Professor Kathryn Zeitz FACN. “Causes of disease are not being addressed promptly, leading to poor health that requires increasing amounts of care, attention, and treatment.”
Under the proposed “socialised healthcare model,” patients would receive more holistic care addressing their complete circumstances. For example, a patient experiencing homelessness might be connected with housing services alongside their medical treatment, or referred to mental health and substance use support when needed.
The ACN points out that nurses across Australia are already implementing this approach through nurse-led primary care clinics, school health initiatives, and mobile street health services—but they face significant barriers due to funding restrictions and exclusion from Medicare.
“It is a travesty that nurses have to battle very traditional funding models in their effort to deliver care to Australia’s most vulnerable, people often not catered to by traditional healthcare facilities,” Zeitz emphasised.
The organisation believes nurses are uniquely positioned to lead this transformation due to their widespread presence in communities and appropriate training.
“As the largest, most geographically spread, and appropriately educated and qualified health workforce, nurses are ideally placed to provide much-needed health services to vulnerable and disadvantaged people who have difficulty accessing the services they need when they need them most,” said Zeitz.
The ACN’s recommendations include revising healthcare funding models to incorporate socialised approaches and nurse-led care, developing national guidelines for nursing education that emphasise social determinants of health and promoting workplace environments that increase awareness of these factors.
Ritchelle is a Content Producer for Healthcare Channel, Australia’s premier resource of information for healthcare.
