Our work related to the rural health workforce

Australia’s 31 Primary Health Networks (PHNs) are independent organisations working to streamline health services – particularly for those at risk of poor health outcomes – and to better coordinate care so people receive the right care, in the right place, at the right time.

The Remote Vocational Training Scheme delivers structured distance education and supervision to doctors while they provide general medical services in a remote or isolated community. The 4-year program meets the requirements for fellowship of both ACRRM and RACGP.

The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) provides free emergency aeromedical evacuations and healthcare services for people living in rural and remote communities. This is often where no other health services are available. We have funded the RFDS since the 1930s.

The RHMT program offers health students the opportunity to train in rural and remote communities via a network of training facilities. It aims to improve the recruitment and retention of medical, nursing, dental and allied health professionals in rural and remote Australia.

The Rural Health Outreach Fund (RHOF) supports outreach activities that improve access to medical specialists, GPs and allied health providers in rural and remote areas of Australia.

The Rural Health Workforce Support Activity (RHWSA) aims to meet current and future regional, rural and remote health workforce needs through workforce planning.

Rural LAP provides locums so that rural health professionals can attend continuing professional development or take vacation leave. The program also funds GPs to do extra training so they can become rural locums.

The RPGP helps cover the cost of professional development for procedural general practitioners (GPs) who work in rural and remote areas. This ensures people who live in rural and remote areas have access to highly qualified health professionals.

SDAP provides free professional support to aged care service providers located in rural and remote areas or who provide care to First Nations peoples. It aims to help providers in 3 main areas – provider capacity and support, sector development and infrastructure project management.

The Special Approved Placements Program (SAPP) provides access to Medicare rebates for doctors without fellowship who have to work in metropolitan areas due to exceptional circumstances. The program has closed to new entrants.

The Specialist Training Program supports training positions in regional, rural and remote areas, and in private facilities. This helps to improve the skills and distribution of the specialist workforce by giving participants experience of a broader range of healthcare settings.

This initiative simplifies training pathways and helps doctors to gain fellowship of one of Australia’s 2 general practice colleges. It distributes training places to ensure a continued supply of skilled doctors in rural and remote areas. It is part of the Stronger Rural Health Strategy.

The initiative supports nurses moving into primary health care and encourages them to have a central role in team-based approaches to delivering care.

The Supporting Rural Specialists in Australia program helps specialists in rural and remote Australia access educational opportunities. It provides support and training via online learning programs, and grants to rural specialists to access training not available in their home town.

This review examined how effective our current health workforce ‘distribution levers’ are. These levers consist of policies and geographic classifications that are intended to distribute health workforce across areas that need them most. The final report is now available.