Warren Entsch (Leichhardt, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Australian government is certainly committed to improving the health of people in rural, regional and remote Australia in supporting better teaching, training, recruitment and retention of our rural health workforce. Regional Australia is driving Australia's economic recovery from COVID-19 through our investment in the health portfolio. In the 2021-22 budget we continue to support the regions and local communities to prosper and to grow. This investment will benefit regional and rural communities and support the government's JobMaker plan for Australia, emerging from the pandemic with a more resilient and competitive economy. However, we understand the challenges associated with attracting and retaining doctors and health professionals to rural areas, and therefore I ask: can the minister please detail measures in the budget that will encourage doctors to train and practice in regional, rural and remote areas?

I've always been a very strong and passionate advocate for rural health because I've seen firsthand the benefits of a strong and robust rural health sector, especially in my electorate of Leichhardt. I and my good friend Warren Snowdon, the member for Lingiari, have been co-chairs of the Parliamentary Friends of Rural and Remote Health for quite some time. This is why I have to say that we were both very pleased to see that the new office of the National Rural Health Commissioner would be established in my home town of Cairns. This is another major step forward in closing the health gap between rural Australia and major cities.

A focus of the commissioner's role is to work with communities experiencing chronic workforce shortages to develop new models of care which reflect the communities' circumstances. The office will also play a key role in supporting the government's ongoing rural response to COVID-19, which includes advising on the impact of the health workforce in regional, rural and remote communities in keeping people informed about the vaccine rollout. I, along with regional health minister Mark Coulton, recently had the pleasure of officially opening the office of the National Rural Health Commissioner in Cairns. There is absolutely no doubt that the commissioner, Professor Ruth Stewart—who hails from Thursday Island, so you can't really get more remote and rural than that—and her team will do an amazing job. I look forward to working closely with Professor Stewart to deliver better health outcomes for residents right across my vast electorate.

Another initiative announced in this year's budget is the government's $65.5 million investment over four years in rural bulk-billing incentives in rural and remote medical practices. A new and progressive incentive schedule will be applied that increases the value of rural bulk-billing incentives based on remoteness. This will enhance the financial viability of practices in rural and remote areas as well as reduce the gap paid by patients. The more remote the area, based on the Modified Monash Model, the greater the incentive payment that it will receive per eligible consultation to recognise greater challenges and cost pressures. Therefore about 10,158 medical providers in country areas will immediately benefit from this announcement, including many of those in my electorate of Leichhardt. The rural bulk billing initiative encourages doctors to offer medical services without out-of-pocket costs to vulnerable populations, including children under the age of 16, senior Australians and concession card holders. On average, Australians in rural and remote areas have poorer access to the use of health services compared to people who live in metropolitan areas.

I'd like to make mention of the government's $2.3 billion investment in mental health and suicide prevention, the largest investment in Australia's history. This issue is one that I am extremely passionate about. Given that I am the independent chair of my own headspace, I have to say that I was particularly pleased to see the funding allocated towards a new national network of 57 national mental health treatment centres and satellites as well as the expansion of the headspace program. Sadly, one-in-four Australians are affected by a mental health illness every year. Headspace offers a safe, welcoming place where young people can get non-judgemental, professional help and peer support so that they can tackle their challenges in a way that is right for them. With that, I'd like to also give a shout-out to Gabrielle Gill, the manager of our headspace, and her team. They do an outstanding job.

It's critically important that young people can access the mental health services they need and to make sure that they've got access to them when they're needed. This record investment in mental health reinforces our government's strong commitment to achieving better mental health outcomes. Finally, I'd like to say thank you very much to our health minister for the outstanding job he has done during this— (Time expired)

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