The number of endorsed midwives in Australia has doubled in the last four years. There are now 1,500 of us. It’s clearly the way lots of midwives want to work, it’s key to retaining some of us in the workforce and we are vital to ensuring all women can access the care of their choice too – a goal we continue to strive towards. Hear about some of the updates and changes in our space, because there have been a few big ones that we’ve long advocated for, particularly around MBS items and professional indemnity insurance.

Hosted by Alison Teate

ACM Update – Alison Weatherstone, ACM’s Chief Midwife.
Alison plays a key role in leadership, policy, advocacy, and media at a local, national, and international level and is drawn to rural and remote midwifery where primary care midwifery really comes into its own.

NMBA update - Shevaun O'Loghlen.
Shevaun O’Loghlen is a midwife, registered nurse and the Policy Manager, Midwifery at AHPRA. Policy is a really important area of midwifery. We need to have it to ensure we’re properly regulated, but we also need it to change and adapt when necessary to allow us to adapt and change.

MIGA Update - Joel Tuccia
A landmark change we saw on July 1 was of course the availability of PII for intrapartum care outside the hospital so that midwives can now be insured for homebirth. Joel Tuccia from MIGA answers your questions on this. Joel has 20 years experience as a clinician, health policy consultant, advisor and lawyer so all angles of question should be well covered.

MBS for Endorsed Midwives: recent updates - Alex Nikro.
Alex is Director of the MBS Primary Care Section in the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. He discusses the recent updates to MBS items for endorsed midwives. He has worked for the department for over 24 years in various policy and program roles including aged care, acute care, health and medical research, and primary care. Alex has tertiary qualifications in communications, public policy and finance, and law.

Professional Services Review - A/Prof Antonio Di Dio.
Antonio has been a GP for over 30 years and is passionate about medical standards and regulation in the Australian health landscape. He is currently the Director of Professional Services Review. He also teaches at ANU and continues regular community general practice as well as caring for colleagues and students.

PBS Update - Bec Pitman & Dr Olivia Tierney
Bec is the Director of the Post-market Review (PMR) Section of the Technology Assessment and Access Division within the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing and Olivia Tierney is the Senior Midwifery Advisor within the Commonwealth Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer Division. They are here to give us an update on new additions to the PBS.