Allied Health Professions Australia (AHPA) is renewing
its call for the Australian Government to release the
National Allied Health Workforce Strategy, following last
week’s launch of Australia’s first National Nursing
Workforce Strategy.
AHPA has congratulated the
Australian Government, Health Minister Mark Butler and
Australia’s nursing profession on the release of the
nursing strategy, welcoming its strong focus on nationally
coordinated workforce data, planning and modelling,
education and training, sustainable careers, scope of
practice and rural and remote workforce
development.
AHPA CEO Bronwyn Morris-Donovan said the
new nursing strategy demonstrated the value of taking a
long-term, national approach to securing the health
workforce Australians will need into the future.
“It
is incredibly heartening to see data, modelling and planning
at the forefront of the National Nursing Workforce Strategy,
and we congratulate the Government and our nursing
colleagues on reaching this important milestone,” Ms
Morris-Donovan said.
“Understanding where our health
professionals are today, where demand is growing and where
shortages are likely to emerge is fundamental to good health
policy.
“The allied health community is eagerly
awaiting the release of our own national workforce strategy;
the timing could not be more important to support health
care delivery across all states and
territories.
“Australia is progressing significant
reforms across aged care, disability, primary care and the
broader health system, while our population is ageing and
the burden of chronic and complex disease continues to shape
demand for care.
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“We want more Australians, whether
they live in our cities, regional, rural or remote
communities, to have the opportunity to benefit from allied
health care throughout their lives.
Australia’s
allied health workforce comprises more than 300,000
professionals across a wide range of disciplines and
settings, including occupational therapists, psychologists,
sonographers, speech pathologists, physiotherapists,
dietitians, social workers, podiatrists, audiologists and
many more.
“We need a much clearer national picture
of our allied health workforce supply and demand so that
governments can make informed decisions about where to
invest, which professions and communities require additional
support, and how Australia builds our critical workforce
pipeline for the years ahead.
“There isn’t one
front door to allied health in Australia. People access our
professions through Medicare, disability, aged care,
veterans’ care, hospitals, community services and private
practice, and every one of those systems makes decisions
that influence where allied health professionals are
available and where services remain sustainable.
“We
need workforce planning and funding policy to work together,
rather than individual parts of the system making decisions
in isolation and inadvertently moving workforce pressure
from one sector to another.
“People can
understandably become weary of hearing about another
strategy or another plan,” Ms Morris-Donovan
said.
“Allied health is a broad and highly
interconnected workforce, spanning many professions,
jurisdictions and funding systems. Bringing those pieces
together through a cohesive national approach gives us the
opportunity to make better decisions for the workforce and,
ultimately, deliver better access to care for
Australians.
