Learning Activities

1. ‘Government vs non-government healthcare providers role play’ activity. Divide the class into two groups. One group will represent government healthcare providers (e.g. public hospitals, Medicare) and the other will represent non-government organisations (NGOs) (e.g. private hospitals, non-profit healthcare organisations, advocacy groups). Each group will research the role of their assigned sector in the healthcare system. Focus on topics such as:

• Funding and services provided by the government (e.g. Medicare, public hospitals).
• How NGOs contribute to healthcare (e.g. charity hospitals, health advocacy, health education).
• Partnerships between the two sectors and areas where they may work together (e.g. mental health services, Indigenous health care).

In a role-play scenario, each group will act out a debate or collaborative negotiation about their sector’s responsibilities and how they can work together to improve healthcare delivery in Australia. For example, 

a scenario could be about how the government and NGOs can collaborate to improve mental health services or chronic disease management.

2. Create a table identifying various government and non-government organisations in your local community

Revision Questions  

 1. Describe the responsibilities of the government for healthcare.

2. Outline the roles of non-government organisations in the health system.

3. Compare and contrast the responsibilities of federal, state and territory and local governments for healthcare.

4. Discuss how government and non-government organisations share responsibility for the health system.

5. Evaluate the effectiveness of collaboration by government and non-government organisations towards healthcare.

Sample Answers

Sample answers coming soon.