Fiona Nash (NSW, National Party, Assistant Minister for Health) Share this | Hansard source

On this side we certainly recognise that encouraging medical students to both study and later work in rural areas has immediate benefits not only for the local communities but in the long term it is likely to encourage more graduates to practise outside the cities.

We are going to commit $13.4 million to provide an additional 500 scholarships for nurses and allied health professionals to expand to 600 scholarships provided each year to allied health students and allow more rural allied health workers to take leave on top of the 100 allied health locum placements provided each year.

The government also undertook to invest $119 million to double the Practice Incentive Program teaching payment for GPs who provide teaching opportunities with rural and remote GPs receiving an additional benefit. We will also provide $52.5 million for infrastructure expansion for medical practices, which is particularly helpful in our rural and regional communities.