Rural medical clinics say doctors are leaving to work in urban areas or asking for more money to stay in the bush since the Labor government increased the number of workforce priority areas.
Health Minister Mark Butler last month said the government was making it easier to recruit GPs, with 700 areas across Australia now recognised as Distribution Priority Areas.
The status allows clinics to recruit from a wider pool of doctors, including overseas-trained clinicians who have to work in priority areas before they can move to a chosen location.
The change gave priority status to regions like the NSW Central Coast, Cairns and Townsville in Queensland, and Torquay in Victoria.
The Rural Doctors Association of Australia says the new policy has left rural and remote clinics struggling to attract and retain staff.
“We’ve had clinics contact us saying there’s a lack of job applications, doctors saying, ‘No, I’m not going to come’, or even asking for more money,” association president Megan Belot told AAP on Wednesday.
Dr Belot met with Mr Butler in Canberra this week to discuss concerns about the rural workforce and find ways to address shortages.
“We’re concerned about the immediate drain from rural. We need to quickly implement policies that keep those doctors there,” she said.
“We need more of a carrot approach, like offering rewards for staying remote, because those policies tend to work a lot better than a stick policy.”
Dr Belot said she also raised the government’s commitment to extra junior doctor placements and a single-employer model, which entitles doctors to annual leave when they work as a consultant at a hospital.
“I acknowledge the government’s not going to change their policy on priority areas, so we just need to move forward with how we are going to fix this.”
