An audit of Australia’s rural and regional health workforce has revealed the Liberal Government relied on 17-year-old population figures - from 1991 Census figures - in developing incentives for doctors and other rural workforce policies.

These figures dictate the incentives that doctors who practise in rural and remote areas receive. These incentives include higher Medicare rebates and reimbursement of HECS costs.

It is ridiculous that incentives for doctors are based on antiquated data, and an antiquated system. The Rudd Government will reform this system to base incentives on current population figures and real need.

The audit, conducted by the Department of Health and Ageing, also found that:

• The current supply of health professionals is not sufficient to meet current needs.
• This situation will get worse as both the population and the workforce age.
• We are highly reliant upon overseas trained health professionals, with 36% of doctors working in Australia trained overseas. This figure rises to 41% in rural and remote areas.
• The supply of health professionals in many rural and regional centres is low to very poor. For example: The average number of full-time general practitioners per 100,000 population varies from a peak of over 100 in the best-serviced major cities to as low as 25.3 in some very remote areas, while the average number of medical workers varies from a peak of over 600 in the best-serviced major cities to as low as 30 in some very remote areas.
  

The Government has inherited a dire state of affairs in rural health. Now that we have a clear picture of the extent of the challenges, the Government will embark on a comprehensive overhaul of the rural health workforce programs. In order for the changes to be sustainable, they will have to be tackled in a measured way.

The Government will:

• Immediately establish an Office of Rural Health in the Department of Health and Ageing, to drive reform in the rural health sector.
• Over the next 12 months reform the remoteness classification structure (RRMA) to ensure that incentives and rural health policies respond to current population figures and real need.
• Over the next 12 months examine all existing programs that support rural health professionals, to determine how to better support communities in most need of assistance.
• Continue to invest in rural and regional health services to ensure families get the health services they need – including the new announcement today of $6.3 million extra funding for a number of existing rural clinical schools and university departments of rural health to expand their capacity to provide rural education and training support.
  

The Rudd Government is strongly committed to improving health outcomes for rural communities around Australia. Next month’s Budget will deliver on a number of important election promises to strengthen the health workforce, including:

• $12 million to help people in rural and remote centres access specialist services on a regular basis without having to travel to a capital city.
• $7.9 million to support and expand the the Specialist Obstetrician Locum Scheme
• Doubling the number of John Flynn scholarships for undergraduate medical students to undertake placements in rural and remote medical practices.
• $2.5 million for clinical placement scholarships for allied health professionals.
  

This is in addition to our commitments to deliver 10,000 extra nurses into the health and aged care systems, and create up to 50,000 additional health-focused vocational education and training places.

The findings of this audit will provide valuable information to the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission (NHHRC). The Commission will report on a long term health reform plan by June 2009 which will include ways to improve health services in rural areas and provide a well qualified and sustainable health workforce into the future.

The Rudd Labor government is determined to deliver changes that will set the health system up for the challenges of the future, and give working families the health care they deserve.

A copy of the workforce audit report can downloaded from: www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/work-res-ruraud