Anne Webster (Mallee, National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Regional Development) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support the Higher Education Support Amendment (2022 Measures No. 1) Bill 2022. It builds on what we on this side of the House know was a good piece of legislation. The original bill introduced by the coalition in the 2021-22 Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook has been reintroduced and encourages the relocation and retention of eligible doctors and nurse practitioners by reducing their outstanding HECS-HELP debts. This measure also allows for the waiver of indexation on outstanding HELP debts for eligible doctors and nurse practitioners while they are residing in and competing eligible work in rural, remote and very remote areas. HECS-HELP debts for doctors can be up to $100,000. Any reduction in that would certainly be an incentive and enticement for a graduate to move to the country—at least that's my hope in my electorate of Mallee.

Any incentives that boost our regional and rural health workforce are certainly worth pursuing and are supported by this side of the House. In Mallee, as in many regional centres across Australia, access to health care is at crisis point—and I don't say that lightly. This amendment bill will expand this policy beyond the health workforce to other sectors in the future, which would mitigate the dire workforce issues that we face in our regions. We need to ensure that everything possible is done to bolster skilled, unskilled and semiskilled workforces in rural Australia. This is for every industry—be it agriculture, education or manufacturing.

Access to health services is a key issue for people who are considering a tree change. Whether young teachers or older retirees moving to the region, knowing that there is quality health care matters. For parents of a young family who are teachers considering taking jobs at a local school, they're less likely to do so if there are no GPs available to support their family. If we don't ensure country workforces have a sustainable supply of essential services, such as health, these communities will be unsustainable in the long run.

Mildura, in the north-west of Mallee, is an example of a town with a struggling health workforce. Most GPs in town have closed their books to new patients. Some, like my husband, who is a GP, work 60-plus hours a week. In the recent General Practice: health of the nation 2022 report, I note he is one of a small number who work those hours. And he is one of the 40 per cent of Australian GPs, or nearly 50 per cent of Victorian GPs, who will retire in the next few years.

This dilemma has had terrible outcomes. People leave this pristine area because they cannot find a doctor. This is true not just for Mallee but for towns across Australia. It means hospital emergency departments are overflowing, struggling to manage the number of people who are unable to see their GP. Even worse, people simply stop trying to deal with their health issues and, sadly, that increases the morbidity statistics in the regions. How long can this situation go on?

It highlights the disparity between city and country. Nearly nine million people live in rural areas across Australia, yet these people often experience poorer health outcomes than their city counterparts. This is something that needs to change. It must change. We can change it by ensuring health workforces can meet their communities' needs. Providing incentives to bolster the uptake of not only general practitioners and nurse practitioners in the regions but other essential medical professionals, such as psychologists, psychiatrists or physiotherapists, assists in ensuring that no matter where you live you have access to adequate medical care. Beyond that, through this amendment we can bolster the workforce in other industries.

This amendment calls for a review of this bill in two years time in consultation with the National Rural Health Commissioner and the Regional Education Commissioner. It will provide sufficient time to monitor the implementation of the existing measure for doctors and nurse practitioners. With this knowledge, we can determine other priority areas relevant to rural and remote Australia.

As I said, initially, this bill was a piece of sound legislation introduced by the coalition, and it is pleasing to see it being recognised by this government—that we can do more for the regions. As a proud representative of a regional electorate and a strong advocate for regional and rural Australia as a whole, amending this bill to support other industries is the right way to provide support for all Australians, no matter their postcode.

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