Topic outline
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The first hospitals in Australia tended to differ from colony to colony. Often hospitals in Australia were charitable institutions, while in other colonies the colonial government set up the hospitals. Hospitals were predominantly for the very poor. Middle-class and upper-class people tended to be cared for in their own homes. One of the features in colonial Australia and up to the introduction of Medicare in the 1980s is the power struggle between the medical profession and others in the hospital sphere. The podcast and the reading discuss some of the reasons for this and also look at reasons for the emergence of hospitals as a preferred setting for both medical and surgical treatment. In this subtopic, there is a podcast for you to listen to along with a reading to help provide background and context to the contemporary Australian healthcare system.
Listen
The topic of this podcast is a crisis of Australia’s public hospital system, tracing the Australian healthcare system in Australia from its beginnings in colonial Sydney (Rear Vision 2009). Note the discussion on funding and control of hospitals. A transcript of the interview is available on the website.
Activity 1A - Describing how hospitals in Australia have changed
After listening to the podcast and reading the article, briefly describe how hospitals in Australia have changed from colonisation to the 1970s using dot points or a timeline to show the changes over the years. Post your summary to the Week 1 Activity forum and then view the answers from your peers.
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