The federal government has backed longer subsidised appointments and increased allied health consultation for patients with diabetes, but been less enthusiastic about an inquiry recommendation to expand CGM funding.

Its response to recommendations from a 2024 parliamentary inquiry into The State of Diabetes Mellitus in Australia, published earlier in May, was welcomed by diabetes patient groups and clinicians, but only saw nine of the 23 action items supported ‘in principle’.

The diabetes community were heartened by the backing of recommendation 12, which focused on increasing access to diabetes care through:

• Access to longer appointments with a health care provider subsidised by the MBS,
• Access to remote models of care and teleheath
• Increasing item numbers for allied health consultations for access to diabetes educators and dieticians, and
• Increased access to diabetes educators, particularly in rural and remote communities.

The Australian Diabetes Educators Association’s chief executive Melanie Gray Morris said the endorsement was a “significant step forward” for recognising credentialed diabetes educators (CDEs).

“We know that when people living with diabetes have timely access to CDEs, they experience better clinical outcomes, improved self-management and reduced complications.”

Other policy ideas to receive in-principle support included setting up mechanisms to ensure GLP-1RA access for disadvantaged and remote communities, and setting up a national diabetes mellitus data register within the Australian Centre for Disease Control.

One of the most pressing issues for Australia’s diabetes community, subsidised access to continuous glucose monitors and other technologies, received less support from the government.

The committee behind the report’s 15th recommendation was to expand access to CGMs, starting with removing all access limits for patients with T1D and expanding subsidies to patients with type 3c, gestational diabetes and those with T2D requiring regular insulin.

Expanded access was a key theme of pre-budget submissions from patient groups, while recent Australian data has reinforced the importance of access to diabetes technologies for improving T1D outcomes [link here].

Despite this, the government left recommendation 15 as ‘Noted’, saying it would “consider the Committee’s report in making decisions around any expansion of this funded program in the future”.

Dr Matthew Hare.

“The Government provides considerable financial support to people with diabetes through the subsidy of diabetes-related products through the NDSS. The Government has committed $682.3m over 4 years from 2022-23 to provide subsidised access to CGMs,” it said in response.

The Australasian Diabetes in Pregnancy Society president Matthew Hare said the evidence was clear that insulin pump and CGM access improved the lives of patients.

“We will continue to advocate and work with the government to establish equitable access to diabetes technologies for Australians most at need. Key priorities include providing insulin pumps to children and pregnant women living with type 1 diabetes,” Dr Hare said.

Other recommendations tagged as “noted” rather than receiving in-principle support included:

• That the government set up education-based obesity screening information and resources,
• A review on the limits on juvenile mental health service access for patients with diabetes,
• A review of the price of insulin pumps in Australia, and
• That the government should consider expanding access to bariatric surgery in the public health system.