Australian Medical Association

The Australian Medical Education Study report – What makes for success in medical education? – endorses calls by the AMA for greater investment in medical education and training to produce a medical workforce capable of meeting the future health needs of a growing and ageing population.

The study undertook research between 2005 and 2007 involving all the major stakeholders, and included surveys of medical students, junior doctors, educators and employers.

AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, said today that the report highlights the high international rating of an Australian medical education but advises that more needs to be done to properly fund and resource medical training in Australia.

The Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA) has developed changes to the federal legislation which restricts access to Medicare provider numbers and effectively limits where international medical graduates and “former overseas medical students” can work for a minimum period of 10 years – the “10-year moratorium”. AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, has written to Minister for Health and Ageing to request that the proposed amendments be introduced into Federal Parliament.

A study which found up to one third of GPs are planning to retire early highlights the need for governments to boost support for general practice, AMA Federal President, Dr Andrew Pesce, said today.

The results of a survey of 178 West Australian GPs aged 45-65 years showed one third of respondents intended to retire before the age of 65. The results were published in the Medical Journal of Australia as the AMA prepared to mark GP Week from 20-26 July.

MJA Media Release - Doctor shortage to worsen as one third of GPs retire early A third of Western Australian GPs aged 45-65 years plan to retire early, potentially deepening Australia’s medical workforce shortage, according to research published in this year’s General Practice edition of the Medical Journal of Australia. Associate Professor Tom Brett, Director of General Practice and Primary Health Care Research at the University of Notre Dame, Fremantle, and his co-authors surveyed 178 Western Australian GPs aged 45-65 years

The Federal Parliament's Senate Community Affairs Committee is conducting an Inquiry into the Health Workforce Australia Bill 2009 (the "Bill"). The Commonwealth agreed to establish a new health workforce agency at the November 2008 Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting and this Bill seeks to implement that commitment.

The AMA has provided a submission to the Senate Inquiry.

The AMA President, Dr Rosanna Capolingua, has written to the Minister for Health and Ageing to seek assurances that there will be sufficient clinical training positions for interns and specialist trainees in the public sector.

The AMA provided feedback on the National Health and Hospital Reform Commission’s interim report in April 2009

The feedback is set out in the table below. The AMA President also attended a one-on-one briefing session with the Chair of the Commission in April 2009 to more fully outline the AMA's views on the Commission's interim report.

The AMA's response to Matter number AM 2008/13.

The AMA has made a submission in response to the draft national awards and also appeared before AIRC hearings in Sydney. The AMA has argued that the new awards may result in cost increases for some private medical practices as they prescribe, in some cases, more generous working conditions than those contained in existing awards. The AMA submission called on the AIRC to bring working conditions in the proposed awards back into line with current awards so that medical practices are not hit with increases in costs.

AMA Position Statement: Health Workforce Reform - 2008

AMA's submission in response to the Exposure Drafts of the Human Services (Enhanced Service Delivery) Bill 2007 and the Human Services (Enhanced Service Delivery) (Consequential) Bill 2007 for the Access Card (August 2007).