Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Minister for Regional Services) Share this | Hansard source

People living in rural, regional and remote areas face barriers accessing the same range of health services as those in metropolitan areas. Remote health workforce safety has been a longstanding concern for governments and employers of remote health workers. I was pleased to announce on 22 August that Australia's remote health workforce will receive additional training, support and professional services, with the federal government committing over $13 million to CRANAplus. The funding commitment will enable CRANAplus to continue its crucial work in addressing the barriers to recruiting and retaining health professionals in remote areas. It will ensure that more than 1,500 health professionals in remote Australia are properly supported to meet the unique challenges of health service delivery in isolated communities.

When remote communities do not have local hospitals or doctors, healthcare services are typically provided by the remote area nurses and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers, supported by visiting medical and allied health professionals. Remote area nurses have to manage any number of risks while providing vital health services in communities which often have none. Weather, travelling large distances and other complexities all come into play. It's a very different model of healthcare delivery and ensures that essential health care is available to the most vulnerable parts of the population in the most isolated areas.

I know that many senators in this chamber will remember the murder of remote area nurse Gayle Woodford in the remote community of Fregon in the APY Lands in South Australia in March 2016. While acknowledging that the responsibility for the safety and security of the remote area health workforce rests with their employers—predominantly state and territory governments—in response to this tragedy, the Commonwealth government provided additional funding to CRANAplus to be used to develop a suite of resources and education programs to help professionals in remote locations and their employers to mitigate the risks.

The coalition government is committed to ensuring Australians have access to high-quality health care. (Time expired)