Centre for Health Economics Policy Symposium 2026
Sustainable Care: The next decade of policy reform
This symposium brings together researchers, policymakers, practitioners and consumers to examine how Australia’s health, aged care and disability systems need to evolve over the coming decade. The full-day conference will focus on the future of the care economy; exploring:
- System design choices such as universality, means-testing and out‑of‑pocket costs;
- How to better measure productivity and value in sectors centred on wellbeing rather than volume; and
- How pricing, funding and incentives can support quality, sustainability and person‑centred care.
Combined, the sessions aim to identify practical, evidence‑based reforms to strengthen the long‑term sustainability and effectiveness of care systems
Registration
Registration is now open. Earlybird pricing will be available until 12 August.
Session 1: Health and care policy outlook
What does the future of the care economy hold, and how are health, aged care, and disability policies evolving to meet the challenges of tomorrow?
Session 2: System design - universality, means-testing, and out-of-pocket costs
How can we optimise the architecture of our care system? How can we balance universality, means- testing, and out-of-pocket costs to improve overall wellbeing?
Session 3: Improving the measurement of productivity in health, aged and disability care
How do we define and measure productivity in a sector where the primary output is wellbeing rather than just volume and profit? How can better measurement support accountability, smarter decisions and more person-centred care?
Session 4: Pricing, funding and incentivising value
Prices can provide strong incentives for both patients and providers. How should we set prices across the care economy? Can better price signals lift quality, reduce unnecessary care and improve the sustainability of the system?
Session 5: Priorities for policy research
Reflection on the day and priorities for future research.
Host
Professor Anthony Scott, Director, Centre for Health Economics, Monash Business School
PProf Scott’s goal is to influence health policy using high quality research. He is a health economist and an elected Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, Past President of the Australian Health Economics Society, and a former Board Director of the International Health Economics Association, ARC Future Fellow and NHMRC Principal Research Fellow.
His research expertise include the evaluation of national health policy, the behaviour of healthcare providers, health and care labour markets, funding and incentives, with a focus on primary care. He has published in leading international academic journals and impacted on policy through his academic and policy research and work on government committees
Keynote Speaker
Professor the Honourable Bill Shorten, Vice-Chancellor and President, University of Canberra
Prof Shorten became Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Canberra in January 2025, after a career that included leadership roles with the Australian Workers’ Union and 18 years serving federal politics, including six as Leader of the Opposition. Prof Shorten studied law at Monash University.
Prof Shorten’s belief in the transformative power of education drew him to UC and the role. He arrived at a time of significant change for the university and the broader higher education sector. It is a circumstance he views as an opportunity to drive UC’s rejuvenation.
Speakers
Blair Comley PSM, Secretary, Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing
Mr Comley commenced as the Secretary of the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing on 17 July 2023. He has served as the Secretary of the Commonwealth Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency and the Secretary of the Commonwealth Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism. Mr Comley has also served as Secretary of the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet, NSW’s most senior public servant.
Prior to these positions, he held senior leadership positions in the Department of Treasury and as the Acting Chief Executive of the Australian Office of Financial Management, with responsibility for managing the Commonwealth’s debt and derivative portfolio. Mr Comley has had extensive engagement with Commonwealth State relations, including reform of the Federation and Health funding in his role as Secretary of the Department of Premier and Cabinet in the NSW Government.
Professor Stephen Duckett AM, Department of General Practice and Primary Care and University of Melbourne
Prof Duckett is a health economist with expertise in costing and pricing hospital services and the design of hospital payment systems. He is an Honorary Enterprise Professor in the School of Population and Global Health and the Department of General Practice and Primary Care at the University of Melbourne. He is also a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences and the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Professor Duckett is also currently Deputy Chancellor of RMIT University. He was made a Member of the Order of Australia in January 2023.
He has held top health sector leadership positions in Australia and Canada, and literally wrote the book on the Australian health care system (The Australian Health Care System, Oxford University Press, 6e, 2022).
Dr Elizabeth Deveny, Chief Executive Officer, Consumers Health Forum of Australia
Dr Deveny leads the CHFA, which is the national voice for health consumers.
She has worked across digital health, primary care, and health funding, always with a focus on equity, access, and making sure policy reflects the voices of the people it affects — and while she’s not a health economist, she knows value for money when she sees it.
Professor Emily Lancsar, Chief Health Economist, Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing
Prof Lancsar commenced as the Chief Health Economist in the department in April 2024. Prior to this, Prof Lancsar spent 25 years in academia, most recently as Head of the Department of Health Economics Wellbeing and Society at the Australian National University (ANU). She also served as Associate Dean (Policy and Practice) in the College of Health and Medicine at the ANU from 2020–2022, where she remains a Professor.
Prof Lancsar has also held academic appointments at Monash University (where she remains an Adjunct Professor), the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne in the United Kingdom, the University of Sydney and University of Technology, Sydney. Prof Lancsar holds PhD, Masters, and Bachelors degrees in Economics, a Postgrad Diploma in Health Economics and Evaluation, and a Bachelor of Arts (Asian Studies).
Event Details
- Date:
- 1 September 2026 at 9:30 am – 5:00 pm
- Venue:
- Rydges Canberra - 17 Canberra Avenue, Forrest, Canberra, ACT 2603
- Categories:
- General; Health Economics
Description
Sustainable Care: The next decade of policy reform
This symposium brings together researchers, policymakers, practitioners and consumers to examine how Australia’s health, aged care and disability systems need to evolve over the coming decade. The full-day conference will focus on the future of the care economy; exploring:
- System design choices such as universality, means-testing and out‑of‑pocket costs;
- How to better measure productivity and value in sectors centred on wellbeing rather than volume; and
- How pricing, funding and incentives can support quality, sustainability and person‑centred care.
Combined, the sessions aim to identify practical, evidence‑based reforms to strengthen the long‑term sustainability and effectiveness of care systems
Registration
Registration is now open. Earlybird pricing will be available until 12 August.
Session 1: Health and care policy outlook
What does the future of the care economy hold, and how are health, aged care, and disability policies evolving to meet the challenges of tomorrow?
Session 2: System design - universality, means-testing, and out-of-pocket costs
How can we optimise the architecture of our care system? How can we balance universality, means- testing, and out-of-pocket costs to improve overall wellbeing?
Session 3: Improving the measurement of productivity in health, aged and disability care
How do we define and measure productivity in a sector where the primary output is wellbeing rather than just volume and profit? How can better measurement support accountability, smarter decisions and more person-centred care?
Session 4: Pricing, funding and incentivising value
Prices can provide strong incentives for both patients and providers. How should we set prices across the care economy? Can better price signals lift quality, reduce unnecessary care and improve the sustainability of the system?
Session 5: Priorities for policy research
Reflection on the day and priorities for future research.
Host
Professor Anthony Scott, Director, Centre for Health Economics, Monash Business School
PProf Scott’s goal is to influence health policy using high quality research. He is a health economist and an elected Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, Past President of the Australian Health Economics Society, and a former Board Director of the International Health Economics Association, ARC Future Fellow and NHMRC Principal Research Fellow.
His research expertise include the evaluation of national health policy, the behaviour of healthcare providers, health and care labour markets, funding and incentives, with a focus on primary care. He has published in leading international academic journals and impacted on policy through his academic and policy research and work on government committees
Keynote Speaker
Professor the Honourable Bill Shorten, Vice-Chancellor and President, University of Canberra
Prof Shorten became Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Canberra in January 2025, after a career that included leadership roles with the Australian Workers’ Union and 18 years serving federal politics, including six as Leader of the Opposition. Prof Shorten studied law at Monash University.
Prof Shorten’s belief in the transformative power of education drew him to UC and the role. He arrived at a time of significant change for the university and the broader higher education sector. It is a circumstance he views as an opportunity to drive UC’s rejuvenation.
Speakers
Blair Comley PSM, Secretary, Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing
Mr Comley commenced as the Secretary of the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing on 17 July 2023. He has served as the Secretary of the Commonwealth Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency and the Secretary of the Commonwealth Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism. Mr Comley has also served as Secretary of the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet, NSW’s most senior public servant.
Prior to these positions, he held senior leadership positions in the Department of Treasury and as the Acting Chief Executive of the Australian Office of Financial Management, with responsibility for managing the Commonwealth’s debt and derivative portfolio. Mr Comley has had extensive engagement with Commonwealth State relations, including reform of the Federation and Health funding in his role as Secretary of the Department of Premier and Cabinet in the NSW Government.
Professor Stephen Duckett AM, Department of General Practice and Primary Care and University of Melbourne
Prof Duckett is a health economist with expertise in costing and pricing hospital services and the design of hospital payment systems. He is an Honorary Enterprise Professor in the School of Population and Global Health and the Department of General Practice and Primary Care at the University of Melbourne. He is also a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences and the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Professor Duckett is also currently Deputy Chancellor of RMIT University. He was made a Member of the Order of Australia in January 2023.
He has held top health sector leadership positions in Australia and Canada, and literally wrote the book on the Australian health care system (The Australian Health Care System, Oxford University Press, 6e, 2022).
Dr Elizabeth Deveny, Chief Executive Officer, Consumers Health Forum of Australia
Dr Deveny leads the CHFA, which is the national voice for health consumers.
She has worked across digital health, primary care, and health funding, always with a focus on equity, access, and making sure policy reflects the voices of the people it affects — and while she’s not a health economist, she knows value for money when she sees it.
Professor Emily Lancsar, Chief Health Economist, Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing
Prof Lancsar commenced as the Chief Health Economist in the department in April 2024. Prior to this, Prof Lancsar spent 25 years in academia, most recently as Head of the Department of Health Economics Wellbeing and Society at the Australian National University (ANU). She also served as Associate Dean (Policy and Practice) in the College of Health and Medicine at the ANU from 2020–2022, where she remains a Professor.
Prof Lancsar has also held academic appointments at Monash University (where she remains an Adjunct Professor), the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne in the United Kingdom, the University of Sydney and University of Technology, Sydney. Prof Lancsar holds PhD, Masters, and Bachelors degrees in Economics, a Postgrad Diploma in Health Economics and Evaluation, and a Bachelor of Arts (Asian Studies).