Shannon was appointed CEO of the NHFB in April 2018.
Shannon has a broad range of experience across national security, economic and social policy environments. Shannon has 30 years’ experience in the APS across Health, Immigration and Border Protection, and Defence with his previous roles having a strong focus on financial management and strategic advice on budget related policy and operational matters.
In his previous senior executive role in Health System Financing at the Department of Health and Aged Care, Shannon worked extensively on national health reform issues and represented the Australian Government at a number of national and international committees. These included health system fiscal sustainability as well as the negotiations on public hospital funding under the two Addendums to the National Health Reform Agreement.
Priorities for the future
The current Addendum to the National Health Reform Agreement (the Addendum) expires 30 June 2025. One of the key activities for this planning period will be our contribution to the Mid-term Review of the NHR Agreement and any future consideration of a new agreement from 1 July 2025 onwards. In the meantime, our primary focus will be the administration of Commonwealth NHR funding under the Addendum including:
- Public hospital funding integrity and duplicate payments
- Funding neutrality for private patients in public hospitals
- Funding cap exemption and reconciliation of highly specialised therapies
- The progression of safety and quality measures (e.g. sentinel events, complications and readmissions)
- Measures to address potentially preventable hospitalisations.
In the year ahead, we will be focused on administering 2023-24 payments as well as completing the 2022-23 Annual Reconciliation.
Productive relationships
Following four years of feedback from our stakeholders and partners, we know they value our open communication, respectful engagement and high quality advice. This is reflected in the 2023 stakeholder survey results which have improved from 4.5 (in 2021-22) to 4.8 out of 5. We will continue to enhance our relationships through existing bilateral and multilateral fora as well as new initiatives such as our data community of practice and technical workshops. It is essential that we continue to enhance trust with our Commonwealth, State and Territory stakeholders as well as our portfolio agency partners.
Positive workplace culture
Our United Leadership behaviours are the centrepiece of our workplace culture where we value people and results equally. After three years of Australian Public Service (APS) employee census results we have consistently ranked in the top two to three agencies for leadership, supervision, communication, innovation and employee wellbeing. This outcome is a pleasing reflection of our results through people approach; however we must not be complacent. Like previous years, and consistent with future public service reforms, in 2023-24 we remain focused on:
- Building on our strong stakeholder engagement for greater impact
- Leveraging our digital investment and embracing data to improve services and advice
- Strengthening our leadership and culture to remain an employer of choice
- Investing in our people through learning and development to strengthen our organisational capability
- Reviewing our business operations for innovation opportunities, productivity improvements and value for money.