Thursday, 28 March 2024


Australia launches first ever Indigenous health workforce plan

14 March 2022 | News

The National Workforce Plan is the first of its kind

Image credit: shutterstock

Image credit: shutterstock

The Australia Government has launched a ten-year plan to increase the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workforce and improve health and wellbeing outcomes.

The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workforce Strategic Framework and Implementation Plan 2021–2031 (National Workforce Plan) was released today by the Minister for Health, Greg Hunt, and the Minister for Indigenous Australians, Ken Wyatt.

The National Workforce Plan is the first of its kind. It seeks to have Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people equally represented alongside non-Indigenous workers across the health sector by 2031.

It will mean an unprecedented increase in the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander doctors, nurses, midwives, allied health professionals, health workers and health practitioners working across the health system through the next decade, providing culturally safe and responsive health and medical care.

The plan aims to lift the rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people working in the sector from the current 1.8 per cent to 3.43 per cent by 2031, better reflecting overall population numbers. 

To help implement the plan, the Morrison Government has committed $53.1 million from 2022-23 to 2025-26. This includes $11.9 million for the Australian Indigenous Doctors’ Association, $12.7 million for the Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives, $18.9 million for Indigenous Allied Health Australia and $9.3 million for the National Association of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers and Practitioners, $0.3 million in support for the National Health Leadership Forum (NHLF).

 

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