25th March, 2025.
My question is directed to the Minister for Health. I have given notice of a motion in Parliament to recognise the global and national bidding war taking place for medical practitioners across many fields. Will the Minister outline what his department and office are doing to stop that trend, and will he commit to working with me to reverse the trend of health workers leaving the system?
Mr RYAN PARK (Keira—Minister for Health, Minister for Regional Health, and Minister for the Illawarra and the South Coast) (12:23): I thank the member for Wollondilly for the question. In a previous life she was an optometrist, and she has spoken to me about expanding the scope of practice of our optometrists, making sure they can use their full skill set and knowledge. This is an important issue. We have a global challenge when it comes to medical practitioners and graduates right across the board. Two years ago, when I was appointed as the health Minister, one of the first people I spoke to was the Federal health Minister. After I asked for more money, my second question was around workforce challenges, particularly in regional, rural and remote areas.
Elected health Ministers across the country established the Health Workforce Taskforce, chaired by Susan Pearce, the Secretary of NSW Health. A review was conducted by a former Secretary of NSW Health, Robyn Kruk, whom many people in this Chamber will know. The Kruk review was all about what we could do as legislators to fast-track and reduce red tape around the process of registering suitably qualified medical practitioners from other countries to practise in our country. That is particularly important for regional, rural and remote areas. The member for Barwon, the member for Murray and our other regional, rural and remote MPs understand the importance of getting those graduates and staff into the labour force in their local health services.
Specifically, we have worked with regulatory agencies, including the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency [AHPRA], which essentially regulates health practitioners across the country, to try to fast‑track the registration of suitably qualified overseas practitioners who want to work in Australia and, from my perspective, in New South Wales. That is a challenge. We have to make sure that their skills and knowledge are comparable and that the way in which health services are delivered is comparable. Although our health system in New South Wales is better, areas like Great Britain, parts of Europe, Canada and New Zealand typically have health systems that are not too dissimilar to ours. [Extension of time]
As a result of the Kruk review and working with AHPRA and other regulatory agencies within New South Wales and other jurisdictions, we have been able to fast-track the registration process for GPs, obstetricians, gynaecologists, psychiatrists and a range of different specialists that we need more of in New South Wales. We will continue to work on that as a ministerial group. Obviously, we now await the outcome of the upcoming Federal election to see who is appointed as the Federal health Minister going forward. Minister Butler has been a terrific partner in the process and I acknowledge his work. I also acknowledge AHPRA and my State and Territory colleagues who have engaged with it.
This is not an easy issue to deal with. The health system in New South Wales is a complex one, but a very safe one. It is conservative in nature, in that we put safety first, second and third—and we have to. That means we need to be very careful to make sure people who qualified overseas can do that work similarly in New South Wales. We will continue to look at other specialties and other ways we can do that. I welcome the question from the member for Wollondilly. I know that health care for her community is one of her key priorities. Of course I am willing to work with her, and engage with her as a part of the important work that State and Territory health Ministers are doing, led by Secretary Susan Pearce and in conjunction with the Commonwealth, on the Health Workforce Taskforce.
The SPEAKER: Before calling the member for Mount Druitt, I acknowledge the students in the Cooper Gallery. I hope they have enjoyed their relatively brief visit during question time. It was fantastic they could be here.