About the HTA Review
Health technology assessments inform Government decisions to fund and subsidise health technologies through subsidy schemes and funding programs. This includes:
- the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme
- the Medicare Benefits Schedule
- the National Immunisation Program
- the Life Saving Drugs Program.
An HTA involves a range of processes and mechanisms that use scientific evidence to assess the quality, safety, efficacy, effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of health technologies.
Health technology assessment methods continuously evolve, necessitating periodic review and update.
The HTA Review is one of the main commitments under the 2022-27 Strategic Agreement between the Commonwealth and Medicines Australia. Under the Strategic Agreement, the Commonwealth has committed to supporting and resourcing the HTA Review, which a reference committee will oversee. The Minister for Health and Aged Care has appointed the following individuals to the Reference Committee.
| Member | Role on the Reference Committee |
| Adjunct Professor Debora Picone AO | Independent Chair |
| Ms Ann Single | Patient Representative |
| Dr Dawn Casey PSM | Patient Representative |
| Professor Andrew Wilson | Chair of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) |
| Professor Andrew Roberts AM | Clinical/Scientific Representative |
| Ms Elizabeth de Somer | Member nominated by Medicines Australia |
| Ms Adriana Platona PSM | Government Nominee |
Strategic Agreements with the Medicines Industry
The HTA Review is one of the key commitments in the Strategic Agreement.
The Strategic Agreement includes commitments to several reforms and reform processes which ensure that Australians can:
- access break-through new medicines as early as possible
- deliver a robust and uninterrupted supply of the medicines Australians use every day.
Resources
The Reference Committee’s role, and details about its meetings are on the HTA Review Reference Committee Page.
Why it is important
The commitment to support and resource the HTA Review was made in recognition of goals shared by the Commonwealth and Medicines Australia of:
- reducing time to access for Australians so that they can access new health technologies as early as possible
- maintaining the attractiveness of Australia as a first-launch country to build on Australia’s status as a world leader in providing access to affordable healthcare
by ensuring that our assessment processes keep pace with rapidly advancing health technology and minimise barriers to access.
Goals
The HTA Review will examine HTA policy and methods, while consulting stakeholders to identify features that:
- are working effectively
- may act as current or future barriers to earliest possible access
- may act as current or future barriers to equitable access
- detract from person-centredness
- may be creating perverse incentives.
Terms of reference for the HTA Review
The HTA Review terms of reference sets out:
- the background to the HTA Review
- how the HTA Review will take account of recent and concurrent reform processes that impact HTA
- HTA Review objectives
- areas under consideration by the HTA Review.
The final terms of reference takes into account feedback from organisations representing:
- patients
- consumers
- industry
- advisory bodies
- Commonwealth and state and territory governments.
The list of stakeholders the HTA Review Reference Committee sought feedback from is available in the 1 December 2022 and 19 December 2022 meeting communiques.
Research and analysis
The HTA Review Reference Committee has agreed on experts in HTA to support the HTA Review. This includes:
- the University of Adelaide (Adelaide Health Technology Assessment)
- the University of Technology Sydney (Centre for Health Economics Research and Evaluation)
- the University of New South Wales Sydney (Centre of Research Excellence in Medicines Intelligence).
In addition to feedback from stakeholders collected through consultations, the HTA Policy and Methods Review will be informed by:
- papers analysing policy and methods used by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee
- contemporary research
- relevant methodologies
- purchasing practices used by comparable international jurisdictions.
These papers will be prepared by the experts in HTA and the department.
For more details about the research and analysis, see the Research and Analysis Plan Overview.
How to take part
To ensure that the reference committee has a well-informed understanding of issues and perspectives from a broad range of stakeholders, there will be multiple opportunities for stakeholders to give input during the HTA Review.
Expressions of interest for deep-dive discussions with the Reference Committee will be open to all stakeholders from 16 May 2023 to 1 September 2023.
For further details about the opportunities to provide input throughout the review, see the Consultation Plan Overview.
For an overview of the work planned under the review including key milestones, see the HTA Review Work Plan overview.
Subscribe to PBS News and Updates to keep up to date with the HTA Review and receive notification about HTA Review stakeholder consultations.
Learn more
If you have any questions about the HTA Policy and Methods Review, see our frequently asked questions.
For definitions of terms used in the HTA Review, see our glossary.
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