About health technology assessment
A health technology assessment (HTA) involves a range of processes and mechanisms that use scientific evidence to assess health technologies for their quality, safety, efficacy, effectiveness and cost-effectiveness.
HTA informs Australian Government decisions to fund and subsidise health technologies through subsidy schemes and funding programs, such as the:
- Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme
- Medicare Benefits Schedule
- National Immunisation Program
- Life Saving Drugs Program
- National Health Reform Agreements
- National Blood Authority
- National Diabetes Services Scheme.
Learn more about health technology assessment.
HTA supports the objectives of Australia’s National Medicines Policy (NMP). The NMP has four central pillars that, together, seek to ensure Australia has:
- equitable, timely, safe, and reliable access to medicines and medicine-related services, at a cost that individuals and the community can afford
- medicines that meet the required standards of quality, safety, and efficacy
- quality use of medicines and medicines safety
- a collaborative, innovative, and sustainable medicines industry and research sectors with the capability, capacity, and expertise to respond to current and future health need.
About the review process
The review was one of the main commitments under the 2022–27 Strategic Agreement between the Commonwealth and Medicines Australia. Under the agreement, the Australian Government committed to supporting and resourcing the review, overseen by the HTA Review Reference Committee.
The HTA Review started on 27 October 2022 and was completed on 4 May 2024.
The reference committee:
- comprehensively reviewed Australia’s HTA policy and methods over 47 meetings
- considered extensive input from interested individuals, organisations, and experts in HTA.
To find out more about the review process, see the:
- HTA Review Work Plan, which includes key milestones
- consultation activities of the review
- expert research and analysis papers commissioned for the review.
Scope
The HTA Review considered the HTA policy and methods, and funding and approval pathways, for the following health technologies:
- medicines and vaccines
- highly specialised therapies (such as cell and gene therapies)
- other health technologies that are linked to the use of medicines vaccines and highly specialised therapies (such as pathology tests)
- foreseeable changes in health care that may influence the need, accessibility, effectiveness or cost-effectiveness of new health technologies.
For the full scope of the review, see the terms of reference.
Goals
In line with the goals set out in the terms of reference, the HTA Review:
- examined HTA policy and methods 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
- considered reforms that would address identified challenges
- presented a comprehensive set of recommendations to Government that:
- are implementable and sustainable for both health funders (Commonwealth, state and territory governments) and the health technology industry
- give all Australians equitable, timely, safe and affordable access to a high-quality and reliable supply of medicines
- adopt a person-centred approach in HTA
- deliver the outcomes sought by the inquiry into approval processes for new drugs and novel medical technologies (that are agreed in principle in the Government’s response)
- further the objectives of the new NMP
- ensure HTA policy and methods are capable of assessing new technologies that are emerging or are expected to emerge in the coming years
- do not compromise assessment of patient safety, effectiveness and cost, or advice to Government on subsidy of health technologies.
Glossary
For definitions of terms used in the HTA Review, see our glossary.
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