Steve Fielding (Victoria, Family First Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator Ellison, the Minister representing the Minister for Health and Ageing. Bendigo is an important regional city of almost 100,000 people, but it has a chronic shortage of GPs. Bendigo only has one GP for every 1,800 people. Minister, what is the government going to do to address the major shortage of GPs so that the families of Bendigo can have good access to medical care?

Chris Ellison (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Human Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There are a number of initiatives that we have embarked upon in relation to the qualifications and training of doctors over a number of years. The Flynn scholarship is one initiative that I would point to for doctors who are going to work in regional Australia. I am not aware of the particular ratio of doctors to the general population in Bendigo—Senator Fielding has mentioned that—but I can say that nationally the number of full-time workload equivalent general practitioners rose by 2.2 per cent between 2004-05 and 2005-06. That is a positive growth in the supply of full-time equivalent doctors in regional Australia. There has been strong growth in GP activity in rural and remote areas, with a greater than 20 per cent increases in doctor numbers in the last 10 years.

We also have the Rural Retention Program, which is an initiative from the Commonwealth budget of 1999-2000. That program’s objective is to support, through targeted financial incentives, long-serving doctors in rural and remote areas that are experiencing difficulty in obtaining GP services. Eligibility and payment amounts are based on the length of service of individual doctors, the remoteness of the area they are practising in and the level of services they provide. Payments range from $5,000 to $25,000, depending on the remoteness of the location.

I am advised that we are putting extra medical training places into Bendigo which are in addition to the services and initiatives that I have mentioned, and we have general training across rural and regional Australia for GPs in those areas. The Rural and Remote Procedural GPs Program deals with that, and I understand that the program enables procedural GPs in rural and remote areas to access a grant to attend relevant training, upskilling—which is important so that doctors can remain abreast of the times—and skills maintenance activities. The program has two components: a grant of $2,000 per day up to a maximum of 10 days training per financial year for GPs practising surgery, anaesthetics and obstetrics and a grant of $2,000 per day up to a maximum of three days training for GPs practising emergency medicine. These are very practical incentives for doctors in rural and remote areas of Australia, but my advice is that we are putting extra medical training places into Bendigo.

Steve Fielding (Victoria, Family First Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Bendigo is classified as zone 3, but government initiatives to attract GPs to rural and regional areas only apply to zones 4 to 7. That means Bendigo is competing against towns such Gisborne, Sunbury and Melton, which are only 30 to 40 kilometres from the city of Melbourne yet are classed as regional. Minister, will the government commit to reclassifying Bendigo to help to improve the number of GPs in Bendigo?

Chris Ellison (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Human Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We have put extra resources into medical training places for Bendigo. I understand there are some 30 extra places, so Bendigo is not being ignored. In relation to the administration of our programs, we have regard to the GP practising divisions across the country, but my advice is that Bendigo has some 30 extra training places.