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title: February '26 Parkinson's Australia Newsletter
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Advocacy issue: Become a Digital Champion. Write a submission. Take our National Survey!

| National Advocacy. Connection. Awareness. View in browser Share your personal healthcare experiences in our National Parkinson's Survey by Saturday, March 10! Your voice will influence the training that health professionals use for years to come. The more people who take part, the stronger and more representative the program will be of the needs of people with lived experience (PwP, Care Partners, Family & Friends that support a person living with Parkinson's.   Thank you for taking the time to share your experience. All answers are confidential and deidentified.  Do the survey Calling all Digital Health Advocates  We’re calling on passionate members of the Parkinson’s community to join us as Digital Health Champions!    This is your chance to help others living with Parkinson’s - and their families and carers - learn how to use My Health Record and other digital health tools that make managing healthcare safer, easier, and more connected.    As a Digital Health Champion, you will:  Attend a 1.5-hour online training session to learn about the Australian Digital Health Agency’s tools and technologies, such as My Health Record, Electronic Prescriptions, and my health app on 19th February 2026 Take part in a follow-up support session Deliver two education sessions in your community using official resources  Receive ongoing support from Parkinson’s Australia and the Australian Digital Health Agency  These tools, including My Health Record, Electronic Prescriptions, and the 1800Medicare app, help connect your healthcare providers, reduce paperwork, and empower you to take control of your health information.    Whether you’re living with Parkinson’s, caring for someone, or simply passionate about helping others, this is a rewarding way to make a positive impact in your community.    Sign up by emailing info@parkinsons.org.au by Friday, 16th February.   Training session: A 1.5-hour online training session will be delivered by the Digital Health Agency on Thursday, 19 February at 1pm ACDT.   Learn more about digital health tools at www.digitalhealth.gov.au Advocacy highlights    Parkinson's Australia advocates for better healthcare (e.g., Aged Care, NDIS, PBS, MBAC), support services, and policy outcomes nationally for people living with Parkinson's and their families.   This year's advocacy is already underway: A national submission on the Federal Government’s proposed Individual Disability Advocacy Program by the Australian Federation of Disability Organisations (AFDO). Parkinson’s Australia is an AFDO member and endorses this submission. We support a national approach that gives people with disability, including people with Parkinson’s, access to independent, rights‑based advocacy when they need it.   Parkinson's Australia welcomes the Government's announcement that it will move to force prescribers to record all medicines-related information under a new National Medicines Record that is accessible for patients and their doctors. The government anticipates the National Medicines Record would become an overarching prescription monitoring system, which would be linked to a patient's My Health Record. The government is promising $4.4 million to get the system off the ground and plans to use existing legislation to establish the new rules, which would focus particularly on private online prescribers.      We also support proposed changes to the Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025. The Bill is to amend Acts to enable registered nurse prescribers, who meet specified criteria, to prescribe certain pharmaceutical benefits under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). The Bill seeks to implement reforms identified by the Strengthening  Medicare Taskforce and the subsequent Scope of Practice Review. The proposed amendments aim to empower nurses to work to their full scope of practice in primary care and, in doing so, ease workforce pressures and provide more equitable access to treatment for people living in rural and remote areas of Australia.   Find out more about which consultations are open for you to contribute to and read our submissions on our Reports & Submissions page.   We'll keep you updated... Yours in advocacy & change, Olivia & the Parkinson's Australia Team  More resources... READ: Find all our articles in one place DOWNLOAD: Find all our documents in one place TAKE THE NATIONAL PARKINSON'S SURVEY STEP BY STEP NDIS Get involved... TAKE THE NATIONAL PARKINSON'S SURVEY BECOME A DIGITAL CHAMPION SIGN THE #BANPARAQUAT PETITION LEARN MORE WITH OUR INFOHUB DOWNLOAD THE FREE YOPX APP Up-to-date information you can trust.  Search our infohub Help us spread the word! Share your newsletter with friends, family & colleagues. Follow us on social media. @parkinsonsaus & @yopxaustralia Parkinson's Australia Limited, 15 Moore Street, Level 4, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia, 0407703328 Unsubscribe Manage preferences |
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