Latest wins: President and CEO update - January 2025
As we enter 2025, we do so with a continued focus on advocacy for doctors, patients and Queensland communities. Specifically, we’re prioritising reform from the ground up when it comes to accessing healthcare and addressing our medical workforce shortage.
Few health issues have been left in 2024, with discussions surrounding physician’s assistants and water fluoridation already back in political discourse.
RECENT WINS
Free flu vaccine continues
We’ve started the year with a win with the Queensland Government’s early announcement that it will continue to fund the annual free influenza vaccination program for all Queenslanders in 2025.
For the past three years, Queensland has led the nation in making flu jabs free, and we are pleased to see the new government continue Queensland’s leadership this year.
The Deputy Director-General has since provided details regarding this year’s rollout of the program, including its commencement date of 1 March 2025. As we receive further information, we will be updating members via our website.
We continue to call on the state government to make this program permanent, similar to the RSV and meningococcal vaccines, and to advocate for the influenza vaccine to be made free for all Australians under the National Immunisation Program.
New generation of doctors
This year approximately 900 new interns kickstarted their career on the frontline, bolstering Queensland’s medical workforce.
This year’s intake is a five per cent increase on last year, as expected with Queensland’s population growth and the urgency to fix our health workforce shortage.
AMA Queensland congratulates all new doctors on their years of hard work, study and training, and applauds the passion and dedication it takes to reach this milestone.
This year’s intern intake is the largest in Queensland’s history, but we still have a long way to go to meet demand and the state government’s goal of 46,000 new healthcare workers by 2032.
We look forward to working on behalf of all new Queensland interns to support them with the inevitable challenges, and with Queensland Health to ensure we take the best care of these future medical leaders.
ADVOCACY EFFORTS
Workforce Working Group
The health sector is currently experiencing the highest turnover since the peak of COVID-19 in 2020, with rural and remote regions suffering the most at a turnover rate of 9.5 per cent – five per cent higher than in metropolitan areas.
To respond to this turnover and meet the increasing demand, it is projected that workforce will need to increase by 30.3 per cent by 2032.
This is a complex issue requiring multifaceted solutions, which is why AMA Queensland has established its new Workforce Working Group.
Its purpose is to help guide government policies directed at attracting and retaining Queensland’s health workforce.
We need collaborative teams, reform of funding models and improved work incentives and conditions to attract and retain doctors in areas of shortage, but we must also change the ways we do and think about our work.
We are confident our Workforce Working Group members can lean on their frontline experience to develop a range of profession-led solutions that will provoke a deeper discussion about our workforce challenges and options than we’ve been brave enough to have to date.
The group commenced on Thursday 16 January and began working to provide advice in the lead up to the Queensland Budget in June 2025.
Water fluoridation
As local Queensland councils continue to remove or abstain from water fluoridation, we continue the fight against misinformation and for community health.
The decision goes against decades of scientific evidence and abandons vulnerable people who cannot afford dental care or healthy food, and we’re already seeing a rise in dental infections, pain and lost time from school and work as a result.
We’re also concerned that the increasing lack of fluoridated water supply in regional and rural communities is furthering the health divide between metropolitan and regional areas.
Before 2012, 90 per cent of Queensland had fluoride in its water supply. Since the state government legislated it to be a local government responsibility, Queensland unfortunately has dropped to 70 per cent.
AMA Queensland and the Australian Dental Association Queensland have written a joint letter to the relevant Ministers and all councils in Queensland, raising concerns about the increasing prevalence and severity of oral disease, particularly among children.
You can read the correspondence and replies here.
Physician's assistant proposal
On Friday 3 January Director-General David Rosengren shared his approach for meeting Queensland’s growing health needs, including flagging possible increased use of physician’s assistants.
While it’s clear he recognises the critical need to bolster the medical workforce, we are concerned about this approach.
Specifically, physician’s assistants pose risks for patient safety and our medical workforce through reduced training and supervision opportunities for our junior doctors.
There is also no current training system within Australia to produce physician's assistants and we would be recruiting an unknown skill set that is not registered nor regulated by Ahpra.
Increasing concerns from other overseas jurisdictions including the NHS have recently triggered a review into the safety and efficacy of the physician’s assistant role, and no decision should be made until that information is available.
Physician’s assistants are not a substitute for medical officers, and we continue to oppose the proposal until we can access the workforce data and clinical evidence to support its implementation.
Bulk billing
A recent report reinforces what doctors and patients have been saying for years – that Medicare rebates are too low to support bulk billing.
We know most practices can no longer bulk bill and cover costs like wages, electricity and rent, leaving many patients with large out of pocket fees. So, it’s alarming but unsurprising to see the number of Australians putting off seeing their doctor rise due to continuous cost increases.
While the figures show Queensland patients are paying a similar gap to the national average, they don’t show the full cost of low Medicare rebates. This cost is seen in increasing rates of preventable diseases like diabetes, heart conditions and poor mental health, leading to increasing costs to our hospitals and broader health system.
When patients can’t access affordable health care, particularly for preventive health, they delay seeing a doctor or go without much-needed medications. This leads to delayed or missed diagnoses and avoidable hospital admissions.
We continue to call on the Australian Government to increase Medicare rebates so patients can get the health care they need from their trusted GP.
Skin cancer awareness
The latest TikTok trend encouraging Australians to tan during high levels of UV to achieve an extreme aesthetic is glamorising the dangerous culture of sun tanning.
Australia’s UV levels are like no other. Just fifteen minutes in the sun can begin to damage skin, increasing the risk of developing skin cancer – the most common cancer among young Australians.
Despite the known dangers of excess sun exposure, the hashtag #sunburnttanlines highlights thousands of videos viewed by more than 200 million users promoting the UV index as a tool to reach their “perfect shade” rather than a warning of its potential health damages.
We are seeing so many people in our older generations suffer the consequences of a lack of public knowledge about sun safety. We now know better, which is why we’re urging Australians to make sensible choices in their younger year to avoid adding to that statistic later in life.
Social pressures should never prevail health, and we encourage every Australian to refresh their knowledge of the true dangers of sun exposure.
CDT Update
2024 was an exciting year for the CDT.
The committee completed a number of projects including the annual Resident Hospital Health Check, their first Ward Call Survey report, and their first ever sustainably focused and carbon neutral Junior Doctors’ Conference.
The Resident Hospital Health Check saw a 15 per cent increase in participation and demonstrated powerful findings with concerns around burnout and occupational safety. The CDT has received responses and plans to meet with multiple hospital and health services across Queensland in the coming weeks to months to respond to these concerns.
Applications are now open for the 2025 CDT committee. If you’re an AMA Queensland member who is passionate about supporting your peers, advocating for change and being part of something bigger than yourself, the CDT would love to have you. Hospital representative roles and special interest group positions are available, in addition to the Chair and Deputy Chair role.
FOUNDATION
Medical Student Scholarships
The AMA Queensland Foundation offers its annual Medical Student Scholarships to financially disadvantaged students studying an MBBS course or equivalent at a university in Queensland.
Applications have now opened for 2025, and we encourage all students seeking support to continue studying and achieve their dream of becoming a doctor to apply.
Scholarships of $10,000 paid in two equal instalments will be awarded to up to three students this year.
EVENTS
Intern workshops
The class of 2024 are ready to spread their wings.
2025’s interns joined us in Brisbane, Townsville and on the Gold Coast for intern workshops last November and December for help with their exciting transition from student to doctor.
They heard from our corporate partners, sponsors and doctors in training and about transitioning from student to doctor, training programs on offer, financial advice, workplace rights, health insurance and more.
We would like to acknowledge the support of our corporate partners and sponsors for making the event possible.
Upcoming events
AMA Queensland has a range of upcoming events this year for every doctor at every stage of their career.
If you're looking for a career change, new opportunities or advice, come along to our 2025 Medical Careers Expo. Meet with a selection of colleges, hospitals and private operators regarding medical career pathways and get your questions answered.
Junior doctors! Join us on the Fraser Coast for this year’s Junior Doctor Conference and discover the professional and lifestyle opportunities awaiting you! Hear from inspiring doctors who have walked in your shoes, make friends and meet important contacts.
Join AMA Queensland and the Australian Senior Active Doctors Association (ASADA) for our engaging and inspiring one-day Senior Doctor Conference tailored to senior active and retired doctors this August.
We invite all members to the biggest black-tie gala for doctors this year - our Dinner for the Profession. Join us in your coolest attire at Brisbane's hottest new venue, The Star Brisbane, nestled at the heart of the multi-billion-dollar Queen’s Wharf precinct.
Are you thinking about travelling overseas this year? Join us for our Annual Conference 2025 in Vancouver, Canada to earn CPD points and learn key issues facing the profession while immersed in a unique tourism destination.
We can't wait to see you at one of our 2025 events!
