The ACT Government is continuing to invest in our current and future health workforce to improve professional opportunities and workplace conditions, and to increase health services for Canberrans.
The 2023-24 Budget will invest more than $200 million over the next four years to deliver more support for health workers, more health services and better resourcing for our health system.
This includes over $122 million in staffing and resourcing to operate the new Critical Services Building at Canberra Hospital, which will open in 2024.
We are continuing to invest in long-term planning for our health workforce alongside increased training and support, as well as enhanced career pathways and a key focus on improving the safety and wellbeing of health workers.
This significant investment will continue to grow our public health system with more than 80 additional doctors, nurses, allied health and support workers, meaning an additional 570 positions have been funded since the 2020-21 Budget.
These investments exceed the additional 400 full time equivalent health professional positions we committed to over this term of government and demonstrate our ongoing commitment to delivering health care for our growing community.
In particular, this Budget includes more than $28 million over the next four years to increase services and improve working conditions for our public health workforce. These measures include:
- $2.2 million over four years for health workforce planning initiatives to help attract and retain the skilled workers we need as our health system continues to grow.
- $8.6 million over three years for improvements to the working environment for Junior Medical Officers, including longer contracts to provide job security for graduating doctors, additional learning positions, increased pastoral care and improved training and development coordination.
- $1.25 million over three years for the continuation of the Indigenous Allied Health Australia Health Academy program in the ACT to increase our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workforce, improve cultural safety in our services, and deliver better educational outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander high school students.
- $3.5 million over four years to continue funding for the replacement and upgrade of nurse-call systems and duress alarms to support nurse safety when providing care.
- $3 million in funding over three years to provide study support payments for health professional students undertaking an eligible degree through an ACT university.
- $9.9 million over four years to boost Canberra Hospital cleaners' pay and establish a project team to develop options for insourcing services across Canberra Health Services.
These investments in improving and enhancing our healthcare workforce are critical to capitalise on our record investment in health infrastructure across the Territory.
The ACT Government is also currently negotiating to finalise the next phase of mandated minimum nurse/midwife to patient ratios, which will further boost the Government's investments in safety and workforce, with a significant focus on ratios in maternity services.
These initiatives form part of the ACT Government's record investments to deliver on our plan for the ACT public health system and our commitment to a highly skilled and valued workforce supported to deliver quality health outcomes for our community.
Quotes attributable to ACT Chief Minister, Andrew Barr:
The ACT Government is making Canberra is a destination of choice for public healthcare workers. By investing in our workforce conditions and our hospital and healthcare facilities we are supporting working conditions and environments that will attract and retain high-quality doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Health, Rachel Stephen-Smith:
Our healthcare workers are the heart and soul of the health system. We are committed to their wellbeing and we know that a better supported workforce can deliver even better health services for Canberrans.
We are investing in supports across the workforce, based on feedback from the workers themselves – including our junior doctors.
This means investing in more doctors, nurses, allied health professionals and health care students, while improving the wages and conditions of the cleaners who keep Canberra Hospital running.
