The Australian Parliament’s Health, Aged Care and Sport Committee today presented its report entitled Bedtime Reading: Report on the Inquiry into Sleep Health Awareness in Australia. The inquiry considered the prevalence, causes, and symptoms of inadequate sleep and sleep disorders, as well as the treatment and support available for sleep disorders.
The Committee Chair, Mr Trent Zimmerman MP, stated that ‘the importance of sleep is often overlooked but it is one of the pillars of a healthy lifestyle. Regularly getting inadequate sleep is linked to a range of serious physical and mental health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and dementia.’
‘To address this, the Committee has recommended an education and awareness campaign to encourage people to prioritise sleep and to highlight that regularly foregoing sleep due to the pressures of a busy lifestyle will have health consequences’, Mr Zimmerman stated.
The report made another ten recommendations including:
- A national approach to working hours and rest breaks for shift workers;
- A review of sleep health services funded under the Medicare Benefits Schedule;
- Expanded support for treatment for obstructive sleep apnoea;
- Additional sleep health training for medical professionals;
- Funding for research into the effects of the use of digital devices on children’s sleep health.
The Report is available at the Committee’s website.
