Stoma Industry Association
Healthcare, Medical Devices, and Advocacy
Third Hemisphere took a long-ignored funding freeze affecting 50,000 Australians and turned it into a national media and parliamentary issue, securing direct briefings with Treasurer Jim Chalmers and a commitment from Senator Raff Ciccone to advocate for a Federal Budget submission on stoma care reform.
The Challenge
Australia's Stoma Appliance Scheme had not seen a funding benchmark increase since 2012. Over half the products on the Scheme's schedule were more than 25 years old, and international comparisons told a damning story: the UK reimbursed 60 per cent more products, and Australian spending on stoma care as a share of GDP sat five times smaller than Canada and three times smaller than the UK. Five separate reviews of the Scheme had been completed, and not one had ever been published.
Our Strategy
Third Hemisphere built the campaign around two interlocking pillars: human testimony and hard evidence. Patient advocate Ryan Mann gave the issue a face that journalists and politicians could not dismiss, while Stoma Industry Association Chair Matt Dalton carried the policy argument, anchored in commissioned research benchmarking Australia against the UK, Canada, and Spain. The framing was deliberate: this was not a demand for new government spending, but an overdue correction to a scheme costing around $100 million, with a clear ask for transparency over a review process that had produced no public outcomes across five attempts. Third Hemisphere paired national earned media with targeted public affairs outreach, ensuring the same evidence and narrative reached federal decision-makers directly, not only through the press.
The Execution
Third Hemisphere secured sustained, multi-platform coverage that moved the stoma funding issue from a niche health concern into the national conversation. A Sky News interview with Matt Dalton put the funding freeze in front of a politically engaged audience. A feature in The Advertiser told Ryan Mann's story in full, including the quality-of-life data showing that 1 in 5 stoma patients isolated themselves socially and 65 per cent reported their ability to work had been harmed. A segment on 3AW Breakfast with Ross and Russel extended the reach to a broad metropolitan audience in a key electoral market. Alongside the earned media programme, Third Hemisphere conducted targeted public affairs outreach, briefing federal decision-makers and ensuring the issue was raised in Parliament and entered into the Hansard record.
The Results
The campaign reached the offices and attention of the decision-makers who had previously been silent. Treasurer Jim Chalmers was briefed directly on the Scheme and expressed surprise that funding had been frozen for 14 years. Senator Raff Ciccone committed to advocating for a Federal Budget submission on the issue. Coverage across Sky News, The Advertiser, and 3AW, combined with a formal parliamentary record, gave the Stoma Industry Association durable, documented evidence of public and political concern to carry into every future funding conversation. For the 50,000 Australians who rely on the Stoma Appliance Scheme, the campaign built the credibility, visibility, and political momentum that support a fair and transparent review of a scheme that had gone unreformed for more than a decade.