Jeremy Rockliff,Minister for Health
The Tasmanian Government welcomes the Australian Liberal Government’s announcement today of a significant incentive to attract eligible doctors and nurse practitioners to practice in rural or remote areas of Australia, by waiving all or part of their Higher Education Loan Programme (HELP) debt.
From 1 January 2022, the Federal Government will eliminate an eligible individual’s remaining HELP debt after they have worked in a General Practice in a rural, remote, or very remote location for a specified period.*
As a Government, we are committed to ensuring that Tasmanians get the right healthcare in the right place, at the right time, which often can mean close to home rather than a hospital setting.
Difficulties accessing GPs in rural and regional areas is a matter we have raised consistently with our Federal colleagues so it is pleasing to see they have listened and taken action.
Incentivising doctors and nurse practitioners to live and work outside of metropolitan areas can help improve access to quality health care for local communities, and we know that the experience can also provide insights for early-career health care professionals into rural health and inspire a passion to continue working in rural and regional areas longer term.
While the Federal Government is predominantly responsible for funding GPs and primary care, the Tasmanian Government has been investing in community-based care to assist in reducing hospitalisation and delivering better care for Tasmanians.
This includes working closely with the primary health sector to maximise GP coverage across our State with an $8 million funding initiative to support GPs to provide after-hours services to their local community.
We have also committed $3.3 million to establish a new Rural Medical Workforce Centre at the Mersey Community Hospital which will support the recruitment and retention of permanent doctors for the region. Four rural generalist doctor trainees have been appointed to work with the Tasmanian Health Service in the North-West in 2022. They will do four 13 week rotations – a rural primary care rotation, obstetrics, anaesthetics, and paediatrics rotations. Further training positions are being developed.
We know there is more to do, and as a Government that has delivered more funding, more staff, and more health services than any government before us, we will continue to make it easier for Tasmanians to access medical care in the right place at the right time.
