News

AMA welcomes overdue National Medical Workforce Strategy

AMA President Dr Tony Bartone has welcomed the announcement that COAG Health Ministers have agreed to fund, develop, and implement a new national medical workforce strategy, but noted that it is long overdue. The new strategy is the first since the National Health Workforce Strategic Framework 14 years ago.

“It is vital that this strategy addresses and overcomes the many workforce challenges facing Australia’s medical professionals,” Dr Bartone said.

“These include the maldistribution of the medical workforce, workforce shortages in some specialty areas, and the lack of prevocational and specialist training places for medical graduates once they have left medical school.

“A national medical workforce strategy, developed with strong input from the profession, is critical to getting all stakeholders on the same page to achieve policies that will deliver the future medical workforce that the community needs.

“The new strategy is welcome news for our patients, our local communities, and our specialists-in-training.”

The new strategy will allow the Commonwealth and the States and Territories to cooperate more closely in planning and coordinating our future medical workforce.

The AMA has been calling for a new strategy for many years, and it was a key recommendation from the 2018 AMA Medical Workforce and Training Summit. The Report from the 2018 AMA Medical Workforce and Training Summit is available here.

More information on the national medical workforce strategy is available here.

Related topics