Nurses and midwives

Hello I’m Alison McMillan, the Australian Government’s Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer.

I’m speaking to you today to highlight an important piece of work I’m leading in the Department of Health and Aged Care, the development of Australia’s first ever National Nursing Workforce Strategy.

There are 420,000 registered nurses in Australia, which is more than 40 percent of the total health workforce. However, there’s never been a national-level strategic approach to nursing policy and investment.

We need to ensure that this highly qualified and skilled workforce is supported to address the current and future health and aged care needs of the Australian community. Development of the strategy will be underpinned by extensive stakeholder engagement and collaboration. It’s expected to look at issues such as workforce sustainability, the diversity of the profession, the challenges of regional, rural and remote nursing, the pathways from novice to expert, workforce planning and data sharing.

As opportunities for consultation arise during the development of the essential strategy, I encourage you to get involved and have your say so that together we can build a stronger nursing workforce for the future. For more information visit health.gov.au.