Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

Working with the relevant state is a really important part of that, so working on workforce more broadly in the area of health care, which is why I think what works in New South Wales and Victoria will assist in the rollout of the clinics nationally and how that can complement state workforce with what they're doing with what primary care needs. You're right, urgent care clinics on their own are not going to solve some of the issues because of the issues in remote and rural parts of the country. That's why it has to be part of the other commitments we've made, like the investment in the strengthening Medicare fund, where we've got the task force in place working with primary care, essentially rebuilding primary care, which is under so much strain. We're looking at the role delineation within primary care, so nurse practitioners and the work they do, and the announcement around meeting the HECS debts for health practitioners to work in the region is also part of it. (Time expired)