Australia’s health and aged care system is complex, with nursing workforce accountabilities split between various stakeholders. The nature of a federated government means decision-making is distributed and reflects the different priorities of the Australian Government and individual state, territory and local governments.
The Australian Government is responsible for developing national health policies and funding population specific services, including health and medical research, National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), and Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS). It contributes funds to the states and territories for public health and hospital services through the National Health Reform Agreement.29
State and territories are the largest employers of the nursing workforce. They fund and manage public hospitals, deliver community, preventative and ambulance services, and regulate and license private hospitals.30
Integrating workforce planning with overarching health system reforms and related policy changes across jurisdictions presents a critical challenge. The strategy acknowledges the diversity of the nursing workforce and its operation across a range of environments.
The strategy considers national, state, territory and international strategies and other relevant reforms that affect the nursing profession, including health, social, education, economic and employment policies. These considerations have also included key international documents such as the World Health Organization Global Strategic Directions for Nursing and Midwifery (2021–2025)31 and reports from the International Council of Nurses (ICN).32
The intersection with other plans, policies, strategies and reviews are complex and changing, as demonstrated in Figure 2. This includes recognition that nurses work as part of multidisciplinary teams, and several related health workforce strategies are in place or in development. Implementation of the strategy will consider these related strategies, policies and review recommendations.
