NSW Chief Health Officer calls for boost to preventive care

The AMA has released a position statement on medical workforce distribution, highlighting inconsistencies, fluctuating under and over supply of medical prodessionals, and the geographical maldistribution of the workforce. They identify inconsistent planning cycles and bottlenecks of PGY 3+ doctors and unaccredited service registrars trying to access down stream vocational training.

This article looks at the growing trend of registered Nurses and Midwives shifting to agency work over permanent roles. It highlights the benefits of agency work for individual workers while noting negative consequences such as pay disparity between employees and the reduced ability of organisations to compete for workers.

The House of Representatives Select Committee on Workforce Australia Employment Services, first established in August 2022, has released its final report called ‘Rebuilding Employment Services’ - published November 2023. It provides 75 recommendations to improve the government’s employment services system so that it better supports jobseekers and employers at the local, regional and national level.

In this analysis, we calculate the Full-time Equivalent (FTE) of AHPRA registration numbers for each professional category and compare the ratio and rate of FTE AHPRA Registered professionals per head of population in Australia.