National Medical Workforce Strategy

Overview

Australia can be proud of its medical workforce, which, through individual and collective action, plays a critical role in providing access to high-quality healthcare for almost 25 million Australians. Doctors provide services across diverse settings, which requires a breadth and depth of skills and  understanding.

There are a number of reasons why a National Medical Workforce Strategy is important, and important now. Firstly, there is a powerful link between the medical workforce and the type and quality of services that the healthcare system can provide. Secondly, the medical workforce has evolved dramatically since the last National Health Strategic Framework was released in 2004, creating an imperative for a renewed collective approach to how our medical workforce is sustainably meeting the current and future needs of Australians.

To inform the strategy:

• a Steering Committee has been established to provide oversight of the development of the Strategy on behalf of the Medical Workforce Reform Advisory Committee;
• a series of consultation rounds have been undertaken to hear from stakeholders, consumers and members of the medical workforce what they would like to see in the strategy; and
• a framework has been developed outlining the priorities for the strategy. To review the framework, please click on the weblink below which will take you to the Department's webpage where it is listed.

Why your views matter

This survey forms part of the Department's stakeholder engagement approach to ensure that consumers, the medical workforce and their colleagues and consumers have the opportunity to contribute to the solutions and approaches that will be included in the final National Medical Workforce Strategy.

Based on earlier rounds of consultations and the views of the profession, there are currently 50 potential solutions being considered for inclusion in the strategy which are listed in the pre-read documentation below. This list needs to be prioritised to ensure the solutions most likely to have an impact and have wide-ranging benefits are selected for inclusion in the strategy.

The Department is conducting this consultation to ensure the medical workforce has their say on what solutions they think will benefit their patients, themselves, their colleagues and result in a stronger health workforce.

The survey asks you to identify your preferred solutions by theme then in total.

What happens next

Once the consultation period ends, the Department will consolidate and analyse the results. In collaboration with the Medical Workforce Reform Advisory Committee and our Steering Committee, the Department will prioritise and further refine the preferred solutions and draft the National Medical Workforce Strategy.

It is expected the National Medical Workforce Strategy will be put to the Council of Australian Governments Health Council for endorsement at their first meeting in 2021.