The Australian Government has established a new body to shape the direction of Australia's healthcare workforce.
The Medical Workforce Advisory Collaboration (MWAC) will advise on medical workforce priorities, including supply and demand, distribution, workforce capability and support.
The MWAC will advise federal, state and territory health ministers, through the Health Workforce Taskforce, on the current and future direction of Australia's medical workforce.
After a decade of cuts and neglect from the former Liberal Government, the work of the Albanese Government is finally seeing green shoots of recovery for Australia's health workforce.
To strengthen Medicare and support our highly trained health workforce, the last two Budgets have seen the two biggest increases to the Medicare rebate in the past 30 years.
The Australian Government has introduced a number of new incentives and additional payments that general practices receive for having a doctor working in rural and remote communities.
There has been a significant increase in junior doctors commencing as GP trainees in 2024, as well as an oversubscribed Rural Generalist Training Scheme to build our rural workforce.
The government has cut bureaucratic red tape so doctors are now migrating to Australia in record numbers with over 8,900 doctors from overseas registering to practice in Australia since July 2022.
The government has commissioned independent reviews to consider workforce issues. This includes the:
- Working Better for Medicare Review, to examine the effectiveness of current health workforce distribution levers, including policies and geographic classifications that are used to distribute health workers across areas of need
- Unleashing the Potential of our Health Workforce - Scope of Practice Review, to review the barriers and incentives for all health professionals to be able to work to their full scope of practice, so they can deliver the health services the community needs.
The MWAC will support the government as it considers findings of these reviews and will oversee the ongoing implementation of the National Medical Workforce Strategy 2021-2031.
The MWAC's membership includes Commonwealth, state and territory health departments, specialist medical colleges, worker representatives (including from nursing and allied health), peak bodies, regulatory organisations, and consumers. Learn more about MWAC, including who is a member.
Quotes attributable to Minister Butler:
"For too long our health workforce was left with no direction or recognition of their hard work.
"A six-year freeze to the Medicare rebate, which began when Peter Dutton was health minister, meant that general practice was in a parlous state.
"Having the right workforce with the right skills in the right place is critical to the success of the government's agenda to strengthen Medicare.
"MWAC will be a key source of advice for the government on the implementation of our workforce reviews."
