LOCAL ISSUES

Medicare’s midlife crisis

With the closure of yet another medical practice on the Sunshine Coast many residents are feeling the pressure when it comes to being able to see their local GP when they need to. Closures of practices in Nambour, Pomona, Imbil and most recently Montville mean patients in these communities need to travel further to seek medical treatment.

Eumundi has not been immune to this scenario. In July 2010 Eumundi Family Medical Centre closed after the clinic owners and five others on the Coast went into receivership. The medical practice was re-established in May 2011 when Eumundi Combined Community Organisation Ltd (ECCO) acquired the centre and sourced and employed staff and a GP to re-open the clinic. ECCO subsidised its operation for the first two years from funds generated from the ECCO carpark, until after negotiations with Ochre Health the practice was purchased with funding support from the federal government’s GP Super Clinic Program.

Practice closures have reportedly been due to GP and staff shortages and financial reasons with the Imbil clinic reporting it had been running at a loss for over two years. Pre-Covid gaps in rural and remote healthcare were largely filled by overseas-trained graduates, but border closures meant those roles were left unfilled. Besides the difficulty attracting new doctors, existing GPs are on the brink of burnout and retiring earlier. Australia’s universal healthcare system Medicare started in 1984 and now appears to be having a midlife crisis with reform desperately needed. A report released by the Grattan Institute on 4 December 2022 called A new Medicare: strengthening general practice, makes numerous recommendations including that the federal government needs to “expand access by making general practice a team sport, with more clinicians using all their skills to share the load with GPs”.

The report suggests the government should “fund 1,000 new nurses, physiotherapists, mental health clinicians, pharmacists and other allied health workers in the highest-need communities to work within general practices alongside GPs and provide fee-free care”.

The issues around healthcare are complex and there are many factors that need to be addressed to relieve the pressures on our over-burdened health system. Medicare’s midlife crisis does not appear to be ending anytime soon and unfortunately it is the patients who will suffer, potentially delaying care and adding further pressure to an already at-capacity hospital system. Tania Watson

Long lunch with Leisel Jones – 8 March

Leisel Jones is best known for her success in the pool as one of Australia’s most prominent swimming champions. Her inspirational message of hope can be enjoyed over a long lunch on International Women’s Day (IWD), 8 March from 11.30am-1.30pm at Venue 114, 114 Sportsmans Parade, Bokarina.

When speaking with Leisel last year she came across as an authentic, modest and wise woman who has experienced many of the highs and lows of life both personally and in the pool. She has a kind and gentle way of speaking her truth that packs a real punch.

Leisel's life lessons in her personal and swimming career will engage and inspire. Also speaking on the day is local radio personality and sports commentator, Ash Gierke.

Bookings: tinyurl.com/2t8wemjb. Janet Millington

Joined-Up Thinking – 14 March

As part of IWD celebrations Dr Hannah Critchlow will speak about her latest book, Joined-Up Thinking, at Noosaville Library from 2.30-3.30pm on 14 March.

Dr Critchlow is a neuroscientist from Cambridge University and wrote about how we can harness brain power productively and tap into our intuitive powers. Joined-Up Thinking was inspired by the Sunshine Coast, largely researched and written at Noosa Library Service, and features artwork from Qld artist Alicia Adams. Visit: tinyurl.com/yc66j6yc.

Zonta Club breakfast – 8 March

The Zonta Club of Noosa invites you to celebrate IWD on 8 March with a buffet breakfast from 7am at Noosa Springs Resort. Guest speaker is The Hon. Margaret McMurdo, former president of the Queensland Court of Appeal and the first female president of an appellate court in Australia. Bookings: tinyurl.com/28jxmsdb.

Embrace Equity Art Exhibition

– 8-30 March

To mark IWD on 8 March the Sonder Studio Gallery in Cooroy will open its Embrace Equity Art Exhibition to run until 30 March. On 8 March there will be artist talks and creative demonstrations from 10am-12noon followed by lunch. Meet potter Charmaine Lyons, bookmaker and greensmith Kathleen Hunt, weaver Kigali Nielsen, painter Nikita Fitzpatrick, lamp-work glassmaker Ursula Wolsoncroft and place-based song and improviser Jeunae Rogers.

The exhibition is the result of the combined efforts of the Sonder Gallery, The Women’s Collaborate Network and the Qld Social Enterprise Council. While the exhibition is free bookings are essential for the demonstrations and lunch. Visit: sondergallery.com.

Eumundi Women Rock! – 7 March

Join the CWA ladies on 7 March to celebrate IWD at the ‘Eumundi Women Rock - a rolling’ breakfast from 8-11.30am at the CWA Hall Eumundi. Muffins, scones, tea and coffee will be served to rock amplified music to celebrate. There will also be an open microphone for women to share stories of wisdom. No bookings required and all are welcome.

On This Day

A woman’s place

International Women’s Day celebrates the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women and promotes equality. Cont. p18

This page is sponsored from funds raised from market car parking to acknowledge and support Eumundi’s the 60s there was considerable apprehension in the trade commissioner service about the appointment of women to senior positions. The paper cited an assessment by the head of the service that a “relatively young attractive woman could operate with some effectiveness, in a subordinated capacity” but not as a trade commissioner. Some of the difficulties he foresaw included:

• Women could not mix as freely with businessmen as men did.

Cont. from p17

While women and girls pursuing careers of their choice is entirely feasible today that wasn’t always the case. A research paper Emissaries of Trade: a history of the Australian trade commissioner service traced the contribution made by the trade commissioner service to the economic prosperity of Australia. Visit: tinyurl.com/8a3nvxpb. The service was established in 1933 and, like many other organisations in Australia, was maledominated for much of its early life.

It was 34 years before a woman, Beryl Wilson, was appointed as a trade commissioner. In

• Women would find it difficult over a career to stand the variety of strains and stresses –mental and physical – which came with the role.

• Male trade commissioners usually had a wife to run the household. A woman trade commissioner would have all of that on top of her “normal work”.

• Spinster women could turn into “something of a battleaxe with the passing years” whereas “a man usually mellowed”.