Nicola Roxon (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Hansard source

I am happy to answer those questions. Seven hundred and sixty-four nurses were provided with support from Bringing Nurses Back into the Workforce. There were 150 aged-care nurses. I am just seeking confirmation as to whether that number is included in the 764 or whether it is on top of the 764.

Obviously, we are pleased that we have been able to support more than 700 nurses back into nursing. Obviously, we are disappointed that it is not even more. We do not think that this program achieved the objective that we would have hoped for it. That is why the program has been closed and it is why we, through consultations with the nursing sector, have now supported through this budget a package of far more extensive nursing programs, a lot of them being upskilling ones about keeping people satisfied in the workplace and about expanding support—for example, in aged care—in areas where we are keenly aware that more support is needed.

That information is available. Of course, in a perfect world you would have thousands of nurses who currently work as waitresses or secretaries or who are not working at all using their skills in nursing. One of the most important ways for us to be able to turn that around is to get our investments in health and hospitals right and to make sure that we are improving working conditions for people in hospitals and in our health services so that it becomes an ongoing attractive area to work in and the retention problems are reduced.

This is a complex area. Not everything that you do works exactly the way you want it to. But there are more than 700 nurses back in the workforce who would not have been without this program and that is not to be sneezed at. We are comfortable that the new proposals, which were worked on closely with nursing stakeholders, will bring a further benefit to our nursing professions.

I am happy to provide you with some general information on the clinics and the grants. As you would expect, further—

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