Commission of Inquiry into the Efficiency and Administration of Hospitals

Commissioners were first appointed by Letters Patent of 29 August 1979 to inquire into the costs of hospitals and associated services. Fresh Letters Patent of 6 March 1980, issued under the Royal Commissions Act 1902 by Governor-General Sir Zelman Cowen on the advice of the Fraser government, appointed James Hardie Jamison (chairman), John Samuel Yeatman and Charles William Lane de Boos to inquire into the causes of rising hospital costs, the machinery for setting objectives and allocating resources, and ways to improve efficiency and contain costs. The commission could sit in combination with inquiries commissioned by state governors and could use the evidence taken under the 1979 Letters Patent.

Legislation: Royal Commissions Act 1902

1. 6 March 1980New Letters Patent appointed Jamison, Yeatman and de Boos with wider terms of reference and authority to sit with state inquiries; interim report due by 30 June 1980 and final report by 31 December 1980.

The 1980 Letters Patent required an interim report by 30 June 1980 and a final report by 31 December 1980 or a later date fixed; the final report is dated to 1981 by the Wikipedia list, but its exact date was not found. The Parliamentary Handbook gives 26 February 1981 as the date the final report was presented.

• Inquiry into the causes of escalating hospital costs
• Review of hospital budgeting, management and staffing
• Review of Commonwealth–state hospital funding arrangements
• Recommendations to rationalise hospital facilities and services

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Some dates or links for this organisation are uncertain. Corrections are welcome.