The Centre for Health Economics (CHE) is celebrating 25years at Monash. To mark this auspicious occasion, and to celebrate the careerof its founding director ProfessorJeff Richardson (Director from 1990-2001), the Centre is hosting asymposium and workshop on 17 and 18 November.

"Since our foundation within the National Centre for HealthProgram Evaluation in 1990 – under the leadership of Jeff Richardson – we havebeen at the forefront of health economics in Australia," says ProfessorAnthony Harris, Director, Centre for Health Economics.

The Centre is recognised internationally for the quality of our research, teaching, and training activities and the contribution it makes to the welfare of the community.

"We are proud to mark our contributions, and those by our founding director Professor Jeff Richardson, to the field of health economics over the past 25 years," he added.

Early contributions

Early appointments to the Centre were Professors Jeff Richardson, Richard Scotton and Helen Owens, whose research focused on alternative models of healthcare finance. They were particularly influential in the development of case-mix funding models for hospitals.

Professor Jeff Richardson also pioneered work on a quality of life measure, the AQoL, for use in health service evaluation.

Health economics teaching

In 1994, Professor Anthony Harris (Director, 2012-current) established a teaching program at CHE. Through this program, the Centre has offered Honours and postgraduate training in health economics. In addition, CHE offers specialist subjects as part of both the undergraduate and postgraduate offerings of Monash Business School and the Monash School of Medicine.

In addition, Professor Bruce Hollingsworth (Centre Director from 2009-2012) established a PhD program in health economics, which currently supports about 10 doctoral students each year.

Increased collaboration

In 2004, the Centre moved to Monash University Clayton campus. In line with Monash Business School's commitment to interdisciplinary research, CHE researchers increased their collaboration with colleagues from the Departments of Economics and Econometrics and Business Statistics, as well as the Monash School of Medicine.

"In recent years, we have focused particularly on enhancing the strengths of our academic output in an international setting, building on earlier applied work in health systems and policy evaluation. We have increased in size and scope to include a number of internationally recognised scholars in applied economics and econometrics," said Professor Harris.

This included the appointment of three senior academic staff members: Associate Professors Emily Lancsar, Paula Lorgelly and David Johnston.

Recent appointments

More recently, the Centre has welcomed internationally renowned health econometrics Professors Michael Shields and Andrew Jones. Visiting appointments include Professors Jan Abel Olsen (University of Oslo), Carol Propper (Imperial College, London and University of Bristol), Fabrice Étile (Paris School of Economics) and Steven Pudney (University of Essex).

CHE has also established an Advisory Committee chaired by Professor Allan Fels AO.

Looking forward

The Centre for Health Economics' current research strengths span economic evaluation and outcome measurement and a range of quantitative economic analysis in health and health policy.

CHE has benefited from success in competitive research grants and the award of six fellowships over the past three years, including three ARC fellowships and one NHMRC fellowship.

"The continued support of the Monash Business School has enhanced the capacity and output of the Centre. Health economics research at Monash is ranked 11^th in the world according to the comparator RePEc," Professor Harris said.

"In marking our 25^th anniversary, we look forward to using our strengths in econometric and other economic modelling to investigate the causes of ill health and to evaluate health care programs.  Conceptual and analytical expertise in economics will be combined with emerging high-quality data and techniques to shed light on unresolved and emerging issues in the enhancement of health and the delivery of health care," he added.

Visit the event page to find out more about the two-day celebration to mark CHE's 25^th anniversary.