Over the past two decades, integrated care has become an increasingly common policy aspiration in care systems around the world. There has been considerable work globally – by academics, healthcare providers and governments – to conceptualise, understand, and implement integrated care initiatives, models, and systems. Integrated care seeks to use limited resources more effectively, by promoting collaboration among care professionals, reducing fragmentation in the design and delivery of care systems and enhancing the quality of care and outcomes. 

At a jurisdictional level, efforts in New South Wales are guided by a strategic framework that aims to ensure a consistent understanding and approach to integrated care across health and social care systems. South Australia has also recently developed an integrated care strategy. Victoria’s approach is more nascent, though its Integrated Care Model represents an effort to move towards a more systematic, risk-adjusted approach. 

However, delivering integrated care sustainably and at scale remains a considerable challenge. This piece considers the case for integration, the challenges in implementing it, and national and international lessons that policy makers and providers in Australia could consider in their efforts to integrate care more effectively.

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