Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Mental Health and Ageing representing the Minister for Health and Ageing. Minister, how is the government supporting jobs in health and what progress has been made in developing and strengthening the health workforce.

Mark Butler (Port Adelaide, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Mental Health and Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Makin for his question. There are two unique characteristics about Australia's health workforce. First, it is growing and it will continue to grow for decades to come. Today, for example, the aged-care workforce numbers about 300,000 and this will grow to fully 900,000 over the next four decades, accounting then for one in 20 workers. The second point is that government in this area has a particular responsibility to ensure that that increase in demand is matched by an adequate supply. No government has ever recognised that responsibility like this government. This year alone we will spend more $1 billion on health workforce measures, compared, for example, to just $142 million in 2006-07.

When we came to government we were confronted with very significant workforce shortages in health and some of those shortages were the result of truly bizarre thinking. We inherited a cap on the number of GPs trained each year at 600, a cap in place for the entirety of the Leader of the Opposition's time as Minister for Health and Ageing. Apparently, it was thought by some that constraining the number of Australian trained GPs would limit demand on Medicare, that Australians would be good enough not to get sick so much. Unsurprisingly, this particular approach to the laws of supply and demand in health did not work. Instead, communities across the country ran into doctor shortages and began to rely heavily on GPs brought in from overseas. This government smashed that cap. Under this government, the number of GPs trained increases every year and will reach 1,200 by 2014, delivering 5½ thousand more Australian trained GPs than would have been delivered under the old system.

On coming to government, we confronted a nursing shortage; so we acted. This year, 42,000 nurses are in training, a 21 per cent increase on 2007. The extra graduate numbers have allowed Australia's hospitals system to employ 2,000 more nurses in the past year alone. On coming to government, we confronted a shortage of specialists; so we acted. In 2007, there were just 51 training places for new specialists across the whole of Australia. This year there are 518, a tenfold increase, including 96 in psychiatry alone.

On coming to government, we confronted a broad shortage of health workers in rural and regional Australia; so again we acted. We directed 50 per cent of the additional GP training places and similar numbers of the specialist training places to rural and regional Australia. We overhauled the old incentives program that was based on population data from 18 years ago. Under our new program, 500 communities are eligible for incentives, providing incentive payments to 2,400 additional doctors and registrars for the first time. In its first year, doctor numbers have increased by 4.4 per cent in rural and regional Australia and by almost nine per cent in our most remote communities.

When I talk to people in the health and the aged-care sectors about meeting current and future demand for a quality workforce I can be clear what they do not do: they do not pull out the latest back-to-the-future speech by Peter Reith and argue the case for—you guessed it—Work Choices. They talk instead—

Honourable Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

Mr Robb: Mr S peaker , on a point of order : the Manager of Opposition Business was thrown out of this House about five questions ago for introducing debate into a point of order. Every minister since that question has introduced a serious amount of debate, and I ask you to rule this minister out of order.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Goldstein will resume his seat. The only standing order under which somebody can raise a problem with a response is direct relevance. I have indicated that I wish to see a minimisation of debate to the extent that incidental remarks are made—and I mean small 'i' incidental. The minister has been very careful, except on one occasion early on, and I ask him to continue to be careful if he wishes to take his 26 remaining seconds; otherwise, I will sit him down.

Mark Butler (Port Adelaide, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Mental Health and Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

They instead talk to us about proper workforce planning, they talk to us about modern training, they talk to us about scopes of practice and they talk to us about competitive wages and working conditions for health workers. They know that that is what this government is focused on.