Advocacy principles & transparency
The access gap in brief
Australia has made subsidised CGM available to people with type 1 diabetes, but around 350,000 Australians with insulin-treated type 2 diabetes, gestational diabetes or insulin-dependent type 3c diabetes remain excluded, while many people with type 1 diabetes still cannot afford the pump hardware needed to access automated insulin delivery.
In type 1 diabetes, more than 100,000 Australians are likely not using AID, with pump hardware affordability remaining a major barrier despite CGM and pump consumable subsidies.
The practical next step
Review current NDSS CGM subsidy settings and prepare a costed Phase 1 option for the next budget cycle. An immediate review does not require an immediate universal funding commitment.
Minimum action requested now
A written ministerial commitment to review current NDSS settings, consult affected communities and sector experts, and prepare a costed Phase 1 option for government consideration before the next budget cycle.
This article analyses the report “The Cost of Inaction: Australian voices on equitable access to diabetes technology,” a national report developed with input from the Australian Diabetes Society, Diabetes Australia, NACCHO and other clinical and consumer organisations. The report was facilitated by London Agency with the support of Abbott. Philip Hall is an independent lived-experience diabetes technology advocate. He receives no personal payment from device manufacturers or pharmaceutical companies. He has engaged with Insulet in the context of diabetes technology advocacy, including travel to Canberra in 2025. This page and the briefing pack were prepared independently. No manufacturer has directed, approved or controlled the policy ask, wording or campaign position. The campaign is product-neutral and supports access based on clinical need, equity and lived burden rather than brand or device preference. The Cost of Inaction report was developed through a multidisciplinary framework facilitated by London Agency with support from Abbott. This campaign uses its published figures alongside peer-reviewed, government and sector sources.
Australia is spending more than $110 million a year on potentially avoidable diabetes hospital costs while an estimated 350,000 people remain locked out of subsidised continuous glucose monitoring technology. The 2024 Parliamentary Inquiry recommended expanding access. The 2026 Federal Budget did not fund that expansion. This delay carries a heavy price in both health outcomes and health system costs.
The report, developed with input from the Australian Diabetes Society, Diabetes Australia, NACCHO and other clinical and consumer organisations, links restricted CGM access to an estimated 15,720 potentially avoidable hospitalisations each year. It warns that continued delays risk worsening health inequities and increasing avoidable healthcare costs.
The Parliamentary Inquiry recommended expanding subsidised CGM access. The Government response noted that recommendation. The 2026 Health Budget still did not fund the expansion. This means the gap identified by the inquiry remains, and the cost of that delay is now measurable in avoidable hospital admissions.
The cost of inaction
$110 million
in potentially avoidable hospital costs each year
15,720
potentially avoidable hospitalisations linked to restricted CGM access
The practical ask
Direct the Department of Health to prepare a costed national diabetes technology access pathway before the next budget cycle, covering both a Phase 1 NDSS option for priority CGM expansion and a sustainable affordability model for insulin pumps and automated insulin delivery systems.
An immediate review does not require an immediate universal funding commitment.
Australia must also address the separate pump and automated insulin delivery affordability gap for people with type 1 diabetes. Both issues sit under the same principle: access to diabetes technology should be based on clinical need and lived burden, not income, postcode, insurance status or diabetes type.
I have lived with type 1 diabetes for 34 years. I have worn a continuous glucose monitor since they were first invented and made available in medical trials in Australia. For the past year, I have used Automated Insulin Delivery technology that links my CGM to my insulin pump so the system adjusts my insulin in real time, automatically.
Last year I travelled to Canberra to advocate on diabetes technology access, including automated insulin delivery for people with type 1 diabetes. Those conversations were about safety, severe glucose risk, overnight protection, family anxiety, mental load and the difference modern diabetes technology can make when people can actually access it. This new report focuses mainly on CGM access, but the principle is the same: when diabetes technology can reduce avoidable harm and improve daily safety, access should be based on clinical need and lived burden, not income, postcode, insurance status or diabetes type.
“I am lucky. I have access. Too many Australians do not.”
I am one of the lucky ones. I have private health insurance that helps me access AID technology, and I qualify for subsidised CGM through the NDSS. Even then, it is still expensive. The consumables, the sensor replacements, the pump supplies, they add up every month.
Most Australians do not have top-level private health insurance. Many cannot afford it. The 350,000 people currently excluded from subsidised CGM access are being locked out of the foundation technology that makes safer, modern diabetes management possible. When the NDSS does not cover your CGM and your health insurance does not cover a pump, the cost of modern diabetes care becomes prohibitive.
A national report, released in June 2026, lays out the full scale of that gap. The Cost of Inaction: Australian voices on equitable access to diabetes technology was developed with input from nine leading diabetes organisations, clinicians, policy experts and consumer representatives.
CGM
Continuous Glucose Monitoring
A small sensor worn on the body that reads glucose levels in real time and sends them to a smartphone or receiver. It is the foundation technology for modern diabetes management.
AID
Automated Insulin Delivery
CGM plus an insulin pump that adjusts insulin delivery automatically every few minutes. Reduces mental load, night-time worry, and constant decision-making.
Key distinction: CGM is the immediate access gap identified by the report. AID is a separate but related access problem for many people with type 1 diabetes. CGM is not the same as AID, but CGM is the foundation that makes AID possible. Without subsidised CGM and affordable pump access, neither technology is within reach for many Australians.
Note on two access streams: CGM expansion and pump/AID affordability are connected, but they are not the same funding decision. CGM expansion is the immediate access gap for high-risk groups currently excluded from NDSS-subsidised monitoring. Pump and AID affordability is the related type 1 diabetes gap, where CGM access exists but pump hardware costs prevent many people from accessing automated insulin delivery.
Immediate CGM access groups (Cost of Inaction report focus)
- People with insulin-treated type 2 diabetes who can face serious hypoglycaemia risk but are excluded from subsidised CGM access through the NDSS.
- Women with gestational diabetes who manage a high-risk pregnancy that can require fast, careful glucose decisions. No CGM subsidy is currently available for this group.
- Adults with insulin-dependent type 3c diabetes caused by pancreatic conditions such as pancreatitis, cystic fibrosis or pancreatic surgery. People who lose insulin production because of pancreatic disease or damage face insulin dependence but are often left out of public understanding and funding debates.
That is roughly 350,000 Australians. People who face serious daily glucose management risks but do not have access to the same subsidised monitoring technology that is already available to most people with type 1 diabetes.
Related technology access gap
Separately, many Australians with type 1 diabetes cannot afford insulin pumps or Automated Insulin Delivery technology. Pump hardware is not subsidised through the NDSS. NDSS supports pump consumables, but the pump hardware needed for AID remains dependent on private affordability, private health insurance or limited eligibility programmes. This is a related but distinct gap that also needs to be addressed.
Diabetes Australia estimates that around 134,000 Australians live with type 1 diabetes, while fewer than 20% currently use AID. This suggests more than 100,000 Australians with type 1 diabetes are likely not using AID. Not everyone will choose or be clinically ready for AID, but current pump hardware costs mean too many people who could benefit are locked out by affordability rather than clinical need.
Technology access gaps do not fall evenly. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities experience diabetes at disproportionately higher rates and face additional barriers to care: limited access to specialist services, higher transport costs, lower rates of private health insurance, and less continuity of support. These are the same communities least able to absorb the cost of privately funded diabetes technology. The Cost of Inaction report, which NACCHO helped develop, makes clear that expanding CGM access is an important opportunity to reduce avoidable harm and ensure people can access the same standard of care regardless of where they live.
“This report makes clear that the cost of inaction on diabetes technology access is being felt every day by Australians living with diabetes and right across the healthcare system.”
Professor Sof Andrikopoulos, CEO, Australian Diabetes Society
The report estimates more than $110 million in potentially avoidable hospital costs linked to restricted CGM access. The 2024 Parliamentary Inquiry recommended expanding access to CGM and exploring subsidised pump access for type 1 diabetes. The Government response noted those recommendations. The 2026 Budget included no new funding for diabetes technology. Continued delay is linked to potentially avoidable hospitalisations and an estimated $110 million+ in potentially avoidable hospital costs each year.
Professor Glen Maberly from Sydney University, who sees the impact of diabetes firsthand across Western Sydney, summed it up: “When the evidence shows better outcomes for patients alongside reduced pressure on the healthcare system, expanding access should be an obvious next step.”
Susan Carbone, a Credentialled Diabetes Educator advising NACCHO, said access to modern diabetes technology remains inequitable and that expanding access is “an important opportunity to reduce avoidable harm.”
Campaign preference
Option C: the full staged pathway
The campaign preference is Option C: a full staged national diabetes technology access pathway. This is not a request for one immediate universal funding decision. It is a multi-year pathway that combines priority CGM expansion with a national pump and AID affordability pathway for Australians with type 1 diabetes.
Ministerial direction
30-day data request
60-day consultation
90-day options paper
Budget consideration
NDSS implementation
This allows government to model staged investment against avoidable hospitalisations, acute complication costs, equity outcomes and existing sector recommendations.
