Linda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Assistant Minister for Health, Senator Nash. Can the minister update the Senate on what the government is doing to encourage doctors to practise in rural and regional Australia following her recent announcement at the Rural Medicine Australia 2014 conference?

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

I thank Senator Reynolds for her question. I have been listening to those in the health sector for quite some time about the current system for workforce programs. I am very pleased to advise the Senate that it is this government, unlike the previous Labor government, that is working towards fixing those issues and making sure we get the right doctors with the right skills to the right places. The first thing we are going to do is fix the current system for workforce programs, the ASGC-RA system—the failed system under the Labor government. We are replacing that with the modified Monash model. This will ensure that we can get much greater detail into consideration of those areas where we are trying to encourage our doctors to go. That system will allow that greater detail to be utilised.

I will be putting that towards first the GP Rural Incentives Program, appointing an expert panel to consult with the sector to ensure that we make the changes right—that they most effectively and appropriately deliver what we are trying to do, and that is getting those doctors to those areas where we need them most. We are also updating the current district of workforce shortage system. This is an outdated system that has been using old figures for far too long. It will be updated to better reflect, on the ground, how those numbers look and how they work out in those regional areas. We will also be expanding the Bonded Medical Places program to cover not only areas of district of workforce shortage in terms of return of service but also towns of under 15,000 people. We know that all of these are going to contribute greatly to improving the ability to encourage our doctors to areas where we need them most, particularly out in those smaller rural and regional areas.

Linda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Will the minister advise the Senate of how this announcement has been received by rural and regional doctors?

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

I am pleased to advise the Senate that these long-overdue changes to rural health have been very well received. For example, the Rural Doctors Association of Australia said:

Rural doctors are celebrating changes announced today by the Federal Government that will result in more doctors and better access to healthcare for the bush.

Professor Richard Murray, the immediate past president of ACRRM, said

This is an example of good public policy in action. It will make it easier to attract doctors to where they are most needed in communities across rural and remote Australia.

And the AMA president, Associate Professor Brian Owler said:

We congratulate [the government] for engaging with the medical profession, hearing and understanding the concerns of country doctors and their patients, and delivering a positive outcome.

That stands in stark contrast to what those in the Rural Doctors Association thought of the previous, Labor, government's policy approach, describing the ASGC-RA as an abomination of a scheme. And: 'Putting a suburb of Hobart, Wagga Wagga and Gundagai in the same section is a joke', Dr Mara said, pointing out the failed policy of the previous government.

Linda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. Can the minister advise the Senate of what else the government is doing to improve health in rural and regional areas?

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

In addition to these very important changes to the health workforce reforms, I will remind the Senate about our recent budget initiatives: $238.4 million over five years to double the Practice Incentives Program Teaching Payment for general practices that provide teaching opportunities to medical students; $52½ for a minimum of 175 grants for existing general practices in rural and regional settings to provide additional space for training, teaching; and $13.4 million over three years to support around 500 additional scholarships targeted to areas of workforce shortage; and an additional $6 million to current funding of the Royal Flying Doctor Service for essential services in rural and remote Australia. When it comes to improving rural health outcomes it is this government, unlike the previous, Labor, government, that is going to ensure that we get the right doctors with the right skills to the right places.