Sector news

The Australian Health Biobank (AHB) is Australia’s first national general population biobank. The CSIRO, supported by the Australian Department of Health, Disability and Aging is establishing Australia’s first national biobank to provide researchers with secure access to a nationally representative repository of high-quality biospecimens and data. The AHB will support medical advances by providing researchers with access to samples from across the Australian population – making health and medical research easier and quicker.

The refreshed digital health hub by Allied Health Professions Australia provides a practical guide for allied health professionals to connect, adopt, and use digital health tools that support safer, more coordinated care.

These new guidelines provide structured recommendations that complement more detailed drug-specific deprescribing guidance, disease-specific therapeutic guidelines and non-pharmacological management resources. These guidelines were developed by a team of 72 experts, including consumer representatives, and were further shaped by feedback from public consultation and independent reviewers. A summary of the guidelines was published in the MJA. The detailed guideline is available at https://deprescribing.com.

palliMEDS contains prescribing information for medicines most useful to manage common end-of-life symptoms in the last weeks of life. A new update version adds paediatric prescribing* information strengthening  the capacity of primary care prescribers to deliver timely and effective palliative care for all patients.

The National Fuel Security Plan is in place to respond to the impacts to the aged care providers services and workers, particularly in regional areas.

For aged care providers
Providers experiencing immediate service impacts can contact their local Department of Health, Disability and Ageing network office for support:

• ACT office - Engagement.NSWACT@health.gov.au
• NSW office - Engagement.NSWACT@health.gov.au
• NT office - EngagementNT@health.gov.au
• QLD office - Engagement.QLD@health.gov.au
• SA office - Engagement.SA@health.gov.au
• TAS office - TAS.Office@health.gov.au
• VIC office - VIC.Office@health.gov.au
• WA office - Engagement.WA@health.gov.au

Support for older people receiving aged care
Please contact My Aged Care for assistance on 1800 200 422 for any support.

The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) has opened a public consultation on the revised Code of Ethics for Pharmacists. Following an eight-month development process, this consultation is designed to provide opportunity for a broad range of individuals and organisational stakeholders to provide feedback on the draft revised Code. The public consultation closes on 17 April 2026 and can be accessed via: PSA Code of Ethics review.