Online consultations have begun for Australia’s first National Allied Health Workforce Strategy with audiology and speech pathology representatives involved in initial discussions.
The peak national organisation for allied health professions, Allied Health Professions Australia (AHPA), said it was pleased to see the online consultations had started on 13 August 2024.
“This is a positive step toward a stronger future for all allied health professions,” AHPA said.
The Department of Health and Aged Care is working with state and territory governments to develop the strategy which it says will help address national allied health workforce issues including the shortage of allied health professionals. The strategy will also consider how these issues vary across the sector so the government can better align supply of practitioners with current and future needs.
A consultation draft outline says other goals of the strategy are to identify how governments, industry, universities and professional associations can work together to improve allied health workforce planning; to consider how to improve training of allied health students so there are enough professionals working where they are needed most; and consider implications of how allied health professions are regulated and what could be improved.
“There are shortages in most allied health professions. The strategy aims to outline what steps are needed to ensure there are enough highly trained allied health professionals accessible across the country,” the draft states.
AHPA says allied health professionals represent almost a third of the country’s health care workforce while the Department of Health and Aged Care estimates it at more than one-quarter.
AHPA says allied health practitioners deliver more than 200 million health services annually, and it collectively represents about 165,000 workers. AHPA comprises 28 national allied health association members including Audiology Australia and Speech Pathology Australia, plus 12 affiliate members.
Commonwealth Chief Allied Health Officer Ms Anita Hobson-Powell said the online consultation process marked a significant milestone as the consultations would help shape the strategy.
“With critical shortages across many allied health professions, this strategy is more important than ever,” she said.
“Our first session engaged allied health educators and researchers, focusing on education and training, building research capacity, recruitment and retention, trends in clinical practice, and envisioning the future allied health workforce.
“The second session brought together rural and remote allied health professionals, where discussions centred around funding models, regional workforce issues, education and training, recruitment and retention, and the future of the allied health force in these crucial areas.”
Professions represented in the online consultations included audiology, speech pathology, optometry, orthoptics, psychology, paramedicine, physiotherapy, Chinese medicine, chiropractic, genetic counselling, occupational therapy, orthotic prosthetics, podiatry, sonography, rural and remote allied health, National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations and Deans of health sciences.
The department sought feedback on the proposed outline of the strategy between May and July 2024. This is now closed and will inform future stakeholder webinars and strategy drafting.
The second round of consultation in August is a series of targeted stakeholder forums for practitioners and consumers facilitated by the department. An additional public consultation will occur later this year.
Completion expected in 2025
The strategy is being developed in two phases and is expected to be completed in 2025.
Phase one is collecting evidence, consulting with stakeholders and drafting the strategy from late 2023 to 2024. The department says evidence will be used to identify common challenges experienced across sectors and new and emerging issues.
A strong focus is being placed on:
- understanding overarching factors and reforms that influence allied health workforce supply, demand, safety and quality
- reviewing relevant policies, strategies and models of care in place that impact the workforce
- recognising gaps in allied health data collection
- analysing workforce issues by each sector in which allied health professionals work.
Phase two will seek endorsement of the strategy in early 2025.
The strategy responds to a recommendation from an independent review of Australia’s regulatory settings relating to overseas health practitioners. The final report, known as the Kruk Review, recommended reforms to streamline regulatory settings to make it simpler, quicker and cheaper for international health practitioners to work in Australia.
