Social exclusion and inclusion has been given a great deal of attention in Australia and throughout the world. This broader concept of disadvantage has replaced much of the social discourse around poverty and inequality, with the realisation from researchers, practitioners and policy makers that...

Older Australians have more health conditions, have more hospital separations and stay longer in hospital than younger age groups (AIHW 2009). A common perception however is that many older patients are “bed-blockers”, unnecessarily occupying hospital beds as they wait for alternative care...

Finding ways of curbing government expenditure on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) while maintaining social equity and access to 'essential' medicines is at the centre of ongoing public debate. This article describes a microsimulation model of the PBS that simulates current and future...

In recent years outlays on the Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme have increased rapidly, prompting both attempts by government to reduce growth in outlays and renewed interest in the characteristics of the beneficiaries of the Scheme. This article uses a microsimulation model to analyse...

With the rapid ageing of the Australian population and the growth in the number of older persons and years likely to be lived with disability, the need for and provision of aged care have become one of the central themes of the public policy debate. This paper discusses the construction of a...