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PDF printable version of Independent Review of Health Workforce Programs (PDF 231 KB)

27 September 2012

Acting Minister for Health Mark Butler today announced that Ms Jenny Mason would lead a review of the Commonwealth Government’s health workforce programs.

“The Government has made a $5.6 billion investment into training our health workforce and we have significantly increased the number of doctors, nurses and allied health professionals working in the community,” Mr Butler said.

“The number of medical students in Australian universities has risen by almost 40 per cent since 2007. The number of nurses in training has also risen by more than 50 per cent over five years.”

The Government is also making a $1.6 billion investment to increase clinical training capacity for health students and health professionals, as part of our health reforms.

“This includes almost doubling the number of GP training places to 1200 by 2014 and adding 680 specialists to the health system by 2020,” Mr Butler said.

“Despite this unprecedented investment, we know that we face challenges in meeting the needs of an ageing population and ensuring that people across the country can access the health professionals that they need.”

“The government expects the review to concentrate on how we can meet these challenges and look at ways we can improve programs which are aimed at increasing access to health professionals in areas currently experiencing workforce shortages.”

“It’s crucial to ensure that we not only have the right number of health professionals but that we can attract and retain them in the areas where they are needed.”

Ms Mason is the former Director-General of the NSW Departments of Human Services and Community Services.

The review will commence shortly with consultations with key stakeholder groups. A draft report is due by the end of the year and a final report by March 2013.

The terms of reference are below.

For more information please contact Mr Butler’s office- 02 6277 7280

Health Workforce Program Review - Terms of Reference

The Health Workforce Program review will examine Commonwealth programs and activities designed to increase, train, support, plan and distribute the Australian health workforce.

The objective of the review is to analyse and assess the appropriateness, effectiveness and efficiency of the programs and activities, and to ensure that they are aligned with Australia’s workforce priorities – actual and emerging health workforce issues and challenges – including those identified in the Health Workforce 2025 Report.

The review will:

• analyse existing programs to ensure these are aligned with workforce priorities;
• analyse existing rural health programs to ensure optimal service delivery;
• analyse existing information and key stakeholder experiences to evaluate whether the objectives of current measures are being met and whether these programs could be improved;
• identify opportunities to better align measures with workforce priorities, including through modifications and amendments to existing measures, or development of new measures; and
• provide advice to government about how to support the delivery of a high quality, well distributed optimally utilised and responsive health workforce.

The review will be chaired by Ms Jennifer Mason, an independent expert with a background in policy design and service delivery. The Department of Health and Ageing will provide secretariat and program support.