LiverWELL welcomes investment in primary care and cheaper medicines in the 2025-26 federal budget

LiverWELL, together with Hepatitis Australia and state and territory organisations, supports the Government’s commitment to invest $8.5 billion to Medicare, increased funding of public hospitals and health services, and reductions to the costs of PBS-listed medicines – which we note has been supported by the Opposition and is a bipartisan commitment.

We look forward to working with community, government and the sector to ensure that these measures support greater access to care for people and communities affected by hepatitis B and hepatitis C.

Click here to read Hepatitis Australia’s full budget response.

LiverWELL also warmly welcomes the Government’s $573 million investment in women’s health, with a focus on reproductive health and menopause. Post-menopausal women face an increased risk of developing MASLD (Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease) and are likely to be impacted more severely.

Greater access to GP training, clinical guidelines, and menopause health checks is an important opportunity to include information and resources on MASLD and the preventive steps that can be taken to improve metabolic health. We urge the government to utilise this opportunity to improve women’s overall health and wellbeing.