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The health workforce in Australia is a critical national asset. We contribute to sustainable, predictable workforce supply across professions, improving access to services.
Sufficient workforce supply, retention and distribution are foundations for adequate healthcare delivery – but workforce sustainability is multidimensional and accountability is dispersed.
Pressures on the health workforce surface across the system and lifecycle of practitioners. Factors like education pathways, job location, scope of practice, career opportunity and workload all contribute to workforce access, progression and attrition.
Consumers experience workforce shortages through extended wait times, increased costs and the need to travel long distances. This can lead to delays in treatment, detrimental health outcomes and unmanageable pressures in other areas of the system.
While we can’t control demand for professional health services, the scheme plays an important role in the supply of services through domestic and international pathways to registration and accreditation. Contemporary accreditation services must balance quality and access to workforce. Education and training to ensure practitioners are competent and able to develop their scope of practice to meet healthcare needs is essential for public safety and workforce sustainability.
Effective workforce management needs collaborative partnerships with governments, employers and other bodies in the health sector. This includes contributing data and insights to support better analysis of the health workforce and identify opportunities to strengthen it.
All communities have access to health practitioners who are equipped to meet their needs now and in future.
We work with and through others to eliminate procedural and administrative obstacles to workforce supply.
We implement efficient accreditation models to support access to services while maintaining high-quality education and training standards.
We share data and insights to facilitate the identification of pressure points and opportunities to improve Australia’s ability to attract, ensure competency and retain professional expertise.
