Tue 27 January 2026
Enhancing Equity of Access and Funding Innovation in MS Care final report
New funding models, workforce reform and decentralised care could transform MS treatment in Australia, according to 11 recommendations released in AdPha’s Enhancing Equity of Access and Funding Innovation in MS Care.
AdPha’s national MS Care Roundtable report draws on insights from doctors, pharmacists, nurses, researchers, consumer representatives and people with lived experience to examine how MS care can be modernised to better meet patient needs.
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) affects more than 37,000 Australians, with prevalence rising 13% since 2021 and annual costs now exceeding $3 billion.
Despite significant public investment, access to timely, coordinated and person-centred MS care remains highly variable - geographical challenges, fragmented funding pathways and workforce shortages continue to create inequities in diagnosis and treatment.
Discussions at the roundtable identified six key themes:
1. Enhancing equity of access
2. Workforce and multidisciplinary care
3. Decentralised and Integrated Models of Care
4. Funding Complexity and System Barriers
5. Innovation Uptake and Readiness
6. Value-Based Funding Grounded in Lived Experience
The roundtable identified 11 recommendations to modernise funding, strengthen workforce capacity and embed multidisciplinary, decentralised models of care as standard practice to reduce delays, improve access to treatment closer to home and align care with outcomes that matter most to people living with MS.
The findings provide a strong foundation for ongoing work to drive system-level reform in MS care. However, delivering these priorities will require coordinated, cross-sector action.
AdPha will continue engaging with government and key stakeholders to explore sustainable funding, workforce and care models informed by clinical expertise, lived experience and broader health system priorities.
AdPha acknowledges the support of Roche Australia through an unrestricted grant supporting the convening of the MS Care Roundtable.