Nola Marino (Forrest, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am very pleased to second this motion by the member for Murray. Rural clinical schools are often, as the member for Murray knows well, quite critical in providing the graduates so desperately needed in regional, rural and remote communities to deliver the services that are generally accepted as being standard in an urban or metropolitan environment. But in many parts of regional Australia the services that those communities need are not locally available. Specialist services are generally provided in areas of high population, but it is essential to get specialists as well out into major regional centres, including Bunbury in the south-west of WA. Even basic services are often in short supply in regional areas. Many country towns still struggle to retain services as basic as simply having a general practitioner on call. That is why the rural clinical school training program is so vital.

As the member said, it was designed in the late 1990s and introduced by the Howard government in the early 2000s to address the shortage of medical practitioners within rural, regional and remote Australia. In fact, I would argue that it is perhaps the only evidence based intervention developed to date that has had a measurable impact on the urban and rural maldistribution of doctors in Australia. The rural clinical school initiative is working and, as the member for Murray rightly pointed out, there is further work to do. It is a very practical response that works on the ground, and it does need continued support to do so.

We know that the aim of the program is to ensure effective medical student training, to be maintained in rural Australia. We hope that this continues to ensure the development and retention of that local medical workforce. The 25 per cent rate also ensures that we get young people—people of all ages—in the program. We want to recruit more students from rural regions to go back and stay in those areas to practise.

The rural clinical school is important, too, for students from urban backgrounds who have not had an experience in a regional area. They can find out just how rewarding it is to be any form of medical practitioner. But a GP in a small regional community is critical. I said to one group of people at the rural clinical school, 'In a regional community, the local GP is akin to God to families.' Where you go for the most critical thing for your family is medical treatment. Local communities, small communities, which do not have any medical support have absolute respect for their doctor. You have to feel it to actually understand it—and I understand it very well, as does the member for Murray. This positive experience is important, which is what the rural clinical school provides.

In 2008, the rural clinical school in my part of WA won a national university teaching award for innovative curriculum and the Premier's Award for strengthening the state. That is how good it is. The program includes two cities in my electorate: Bunbury and Busselton. The Edith Cowan campus, which is in the same block, includes the South West Health Campus and the St John of God private hospital. It offers three fully-furnished homes. Accommodation is so important for the students who come out to rural and regional areas. They are just a walk away from the university and the hospitals. The Busselton office is located in Gale Street, which is only a five-minute walk from the Busselton Hospital and is fully furnished as well. A really important part of what this program delivers is the capacity for these students to enjoy their time and to form an affinity, a connection, to the community as well as an understanding of how important they are.

I commend the member for Murray for her motion. This is a practical approach. I understand the specific issues that she has raised in the second part of the motion regarding intern and specialty training places. This is a program that we who represent rural, regional and remote Australia understand as being critical to our local communities. There is very little that is more important than the health of families and individuals in our communities. It is the presence of local GPs, doctors and specialists across the board which helps our communities to function and keeps the members of our community safe and healthy. I commend the member for this motion. (Time expired)

See this speech in context