TranslateDisability Health Strategy
About the Disability Health Strategy
The Department of Health has developed its first Disability Health Strategy (the Strategy), which provides a roadmap to improving the delivery of high quality, accessible health services for all people with disability in Tasmania.
The Strategy will support people with disability of all ages who use, access services, or are employed within Tasmania’s public health system.
Through the Strategy, we will work to improve how we provide healthcare to people with disability in Tasmania, and how we engage with their families and carers, advocates and providers of disability support.
Community consultation
The Strategy has been informed by community consultation with the Tasmanian disability community, undertaken by Annie Curtis Consulting during August and September 2023.
Consultation on the Strategy included online and in person consultation sessions across Tasmania, as well as accepting written submissions and input via telephone. We would like to thank everyone who participated in this process and shared their valuable insights to help inform the Strategy.
Priority Areas
The Strategy is centred around five priority areas which will guide us to improve health service delivery for people with disability. These priority areas were developed in consultation with the Tasmanian community, and reflect national reform directions for disability services.
The five priority areas are:
- Quality: Ensure our health services meet the diverse needs of people with disability through best practice approaches.
- Accessibility: Support a holistic approach to healthcare delivery and provide reasonable adjustments to address barriers to access.
- Decision Making: Empower people with disability to make informed decisions about their healthcare.
- Workforce: Ensure our health workforce has the knowledge to provide healthcare that meets the diverse needs of people with disability, and build a workforce profile which reflects the diversity of our population with disability.
- Information Systems: Improve our health data on people with disability and ensure accessibility to information.
Action Plans
The Strategy will be implemented through a series of action plans that will outline a range of actions the Department will deliver against each of the priority areas. We will report against the progress of the action plans each year.
The first Action Plan, for the period 2024 to 2025, was released alongside the Strategy, and includes foundational actions which will support the success of the Strategy moving forward. The actions in the 2024-2025 Action Plan are informed by the community consultation on the Strategy, as well as current national reform activities.
Governance and Evaluation
The Department will establish a governance group to oversee the development of the Strategy’s action plans, and monitor and report on our progress in implementing these plans.
We will seek nominations from people with disability, their families and carers to join the governance group.
Contact Us
For more information about the Strategy, please contact us.
Email: [email protected]
