Research_

Menzies Centre for Health Policy and Economics

Leading independent voice on health policy in Australia

Gathering experts in health policy, economics and health services research to produce high-quality analyses of current issues, deliver public seminars and education programs and undertake comprehensive research projects.

About us

The Menzies Centre for Health Policy and Economics conducts health policy research, analysis, advice and education.

We focus on improving public health outcomes through policy innovation and practical implementation.

With a program of community engagement, we encourage informed debate about how Australians can influence:

health policy to ensure that it is consistent with their values and priorities;
policies that are able to deliver safe, high-quality health care that is sustainable in the long term.

We have a particular interest in the policy conundrums posed by the growing challenge of chronic illness.

Our research has demonstrated a strong commitment to patient centred outcomes.

Research themes

Health Systems and Financing

Work within this theme includes the organisation of the health care system across primary, secondary, tertiary, and social care, including the roles, responsibilities and linkages between local, state and national health bodies – and participation of consumers and citizens.

This theme also includes how health is financed and the relationships between public and private actors in health. Our aim is to achieve transparency, responsiveness and integrity in health systems, and improve efficiency by closing responsibility gaps and reducing overlaps.

Theme Lead

Dr Carmen Huckel Schneider

Knowledge Systems for Policy Action

Work within this theme focuses on developing and analysing how information is gathered and flows throughout health systems and in health policy making processes. It incorporates novel methods for data collection and analysis, and the development of new systems to hold, regulate and govern health knowledge.

This theme also includes research into how knowledge is found, interpreted and utilised in health systems and policy. Our aim is to achieve intelligent systems of knowledge generation and utilisation in health policy that incorporate the complex mix of factors that need to be understood to make wise decisions.

Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Capability Framework (PDF, 169.2KB)

Theme Lead

Dr Sarah Norris

Global and Intersectoral Health Policy

Work within this theme analyses the relationships between global health policy systems and local policy action. It includes the development of global-level policy as well as how global health goals are interpreted and enacted at local levels.

This theme also includes the interactions and relationships between global and intersectoral forces of change and health policy, including trade and investment, global politics and social and cultural movements. Our aim to strengthen health policy globally by enhancing policy learning across sectors, countries and in international institutions.

Theme Lead

Associate Professor Anne Marie Thow

Health Services Innovation and Improvement

Work within this theme includes the analysis of how health services are constructed and delivered within the broader health and social systems. We analyse how and why key health goals such as access, equity, and experience can be achieved by analysing models of care at a system level.

This theme includes evaluative research of novel models of care and new health technologies, and how their success, or failure, can be explained. Our aim is to develop comprehensive system-level models of health care that increase access, equity and quality.

Theme Lead

Dr Carissa Bonner

Value-informed decision making

Work within this theme includes analysis of how value (cost-effectiveness), and values (preferences) are determined and integrated into decision making and policy. It answers technical questions around the efficient provision of health services in different contexts, explores the application of distributional efficiency approaches, and answers broader questions around the notion of ‘value’ from a decision maker, community, and patient perspective.

This theme also applies quantitative economic methods to understand community preferences for how health services and systems are delivered/provided and how health outcomes are valued. Our aim is to achieve sustainable health care systems and delivery that prioritise outcomes of value for the community.

Theme Lead

Dr Martin Howell

Study options

The study of health policy offers a critical perspective on how health systems operate and the forces that shape the health and society more broadly. It emphasises the importance of power and value choices, focusing on the interaction of governments with the private and community sectors in shaping policy.

Postgraduate coursework

Why study health policy with us?

Study with Sydney School of Public Health, a global leader in research and education.
Learn how to develop and implement health policy.
Analyse current health policies and policy processes.
Learn about how the Australian and international healthcare systems work.
Develop applied skills in policy analysis, economic evaluation, health financing and budgets.
Understand emerging issues from international trends.
Identify and analyse politics and power in health policy.
Gain key skills in systems thinking and critical appraisal of evidence for health policy.
Graduate with professional confidence to work in leadership and strategy across the health sector.

Course options

Scholarship options

Two scholarships are available for the Masters of Health Policy at the University of Sydney. The Stephen Leeder Health Policy Scholarship and the Ruth Colagiuri Health Policy Scholarship will be valued at $10,000 and will be tenable for one full-time semester only.

Visit our scholarships website to learn more.

For further information on these courses please contact:

Dr Carmen Huckel-Schneider
carmen.huckelschneider@sydney.edu.au
Associate Professor Jim Gillespie
james.gillespie@sydney.edu.au

Postgraduate research

Degrees by research are available across all the research areas of the Sydney School of Public Health and the Faculty of Medicine and Health.

Research options include:

Master of Philosophy (Medicine and Health) (MPhil)
Doctor of Philosophy (Medicine and Health) (PhD)

Learn more current research opportunities or about postgraduate research in medicine and health.

Event series

Seminars

The Menzies Centre for Health Policy and colleagues deliver regular seminars that address contemporary health policy issues.

Please join our mailing list to receive notifications when the next seminar is scheduled.

Visit the Sydney eScholarship Repository for recordings and resources from past seminars.

S T Lee Lecture

The University of Sydney, by way of a gift, established the S.T. Lee Lecture Fund in 2008 to invite a distinguished scholar and/or practitioner on the subject of contemporary health policy to deliver an annual lecture. The S.T. Lee Lecture is named for Seng Tee Lee, a business executive and noted philanthropist. Dr Lee is director of the Lee group of companies in Singapore and of the Lee Foundation.

Please join our mailing list to receive notifications when the next S T Lee Lecture is scheduled.

Visit the Sydney eScholarship Repository for recordings and resources from past conferences. https://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/handle/2123/8696

Our people

Staff

Centre Management

Professor Kirsten Howard, Co-Director and Professor of Health Economics
Professor Andrew Wilson, Co-Director and Professor of Public Health
Associate Professor Carmen Huckel Schneider, Deputy Director, MCHPE; Co-Director, Academic Education Sydney School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health
Diana Freeman, Centre Manager

Professors

Professor Shaun Larkin, Professor of Health Policy
Professor Anne Marie Thow, Professor of Public Policy and Health
Professor Kees Van Gool, Professor of Health Policy and Systems

Associate Professors

Associate Professor Carissa Bonner, Research Focussed Academic
Associate Professor Phil Haywood, Associate Professor of Practice (Health Financing)
Associate Professor Martin Howell, Principal Research Fellow
Associate Professor Sarah Norris (Associate Professor of Practice - Health Technology Management)

Senior Research Fellows

Dr Simone De Morgan, Senior Research Fellow
Dr Alice Gibson, Postdoctoral Research Associate
Dr Gai Moore, Research Fellow (Knowledge Translation) and Lecturer, Master of Health Policy

Research Fellows