Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee, , 3:41:43 to 3:47:12
The committee reviews findings from the National Rural Health Alliance regarding the significant health funding gap between metropolitan and rural Australians.
Topics: Health, Government spending
Speakers: Prof Jennifer May, Hon Anne Ruston, Ellie Whiteaker, Chris Gatenby
My question was really just about the the use of the expert in the room. Um the National Rural Health Alliance um latest report forgotten health spend 2026 finds that there is a gap in health spending between rural and city Australians has widened. Um and they quote a figure of 9.23 billion dollars per year, which is according to their records up six from six point five five billion in 2023. Um I'm assuming everyone's aware of the report. Um I'm just just interested um whether you know if you would like to make any comment on that finding.
Um thank you, Senator. Um I I thought the report um absolutely nailed the and as as I already mentioned it, and actually I borrowed from them those three planks of why we are in the situation we are. And that does relate um primarily to workforce, and that's why it should be top of the list, but it also relates to the different needs of the communities that live in rural and remote. And it also relates to the issues around costs and security of delivering services in rural and remote Australia. And and if I could just take the opportunity to say um it is really difficult to deliver high quality health care to uh area as big as Australia and maintain um the high standard to which we wish um Australians to be able to access and at the same time the the sort of breadth of services like for instance um maternity services, you know, in a this such a distributed way. So the challenge is significant and it is um absolutely fair that we absolutely I believe concentrate on some of those distributive issues because we it is not appropriate that um rural Australians get um such a gap in health service access as indicated by the report.
Yeah, I think um she goes on to to say that in towns of rural towns of 5,000 people or less um that they receive on average six thousand three hundred and sixty-eight dollars less in health funding each year than somebody who lives in a metropolitan area. Um are you doing or have you been tasked to do any work around how that gap might be closed? Because I mean it's all well and good but talking about the big you know nine billion dollars, but you know, when you actually bring it down to the the $6,368 less per person, we're now starting to talk about real people.
Oh, absolutely. And and but if I could qualify it a little bit, um obviously um the report took a number of different data points to try and identify that number. Um I think without doubt the focus was correct. So I do believe it's our small towns of which we have I think 1.8 million people living in of one to five thousand. And they are the um towns that we see at the most significant risk of losing access to good primary care and the secondary care, like aged care and other um other you know important services. So I think the focus is right, and I think that's where we need to be looking. Personally, I believe that um the infrastructure piece, and that is a commonwealth state um get together on multi-purpose services that provides a foundational location for the provision of that um again, generalist workforce to work in some of those locations should and could be uh an approach, and certainly I am advocating that approach, and I do think a focus in those what we call an MM5 small towns is very appropriate. I I think it also highlights that we've got issues in six and seven, which is our remote and very remote. Then we've got, as I said, a large number of people who are in these um small towns, but we've also got the provision of hub and spoke services out of bigger towns that do provide a large amount of service delivery, and I go to things like maternity and non-GP specialist services. So we've got to keep our eye on that as well if we're actually going to deliver better care.
Probably goes back to my point. Maybe we should get the IMOP project back out of the cupboard and start looking at it. Um just finally, um, how many times have you met with Minister Butler this year?
Um I've met with his advisor on one occasion.
Okay. Um and just quickly because I understand time. Uh what are your key priorities over the next 12 months?
Generalism, yep. Equity and place-based training and education, because I do believe that if we train a workforce that's based where it is, it is much more likely to stay.
Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Chair.
Thank you, Senator Ruston. I believe that brings us to the end, unless I don't know. Thank you, Senator Gang. I appreciate it.
Yeah, but you wanted to ask you.
No, no, that's fine.