The lack of child care options in the bush is proving a barrier to recruitment for doctors and other health professionals and is impacting health care for rural patients. 

A survey carried out by the Rural Doctors Association of Australia (RDAA) has shown that nearly 70 per cent of the healthcare workers that responded made choices about their work location based on the availability of child care in their community. 

Dr Sue Harrison, Chair of RDAA’s Female Doctors Group, said that accessing childcare for doctors, nurses and other health care workers had been impacting on the availability of services for many years. 

“Our members have been telling us for decades that they need access to child care in order to be able to take up jobs in the bush,” Dr Harrison said. 

“Many of our doctors have had to turn down positions, particularly in rural towns, as they simply cannot find options for child care to cover their work hours. 

“This burden is often shared with their partner, resulting in both parents working reduced hours to enable them to care for their children. This can be difficult as many medical families, just like other families in the community, have both parents working in a professional role, whether that be in the health sector or outside of it. 

“In our recent survey of rural health care workers more than 50 per cent of respondents reported that either they or their partner had reduced work hours to meet their childcare need.” 

 A growing problem 

With the increasing number of female doctors in rural areas, and women generally in the workforce, this problem has been growing over recent decades. The final report from the Productivity Commission Inquiry into Early childhood education and care* showed that in 2023, three in four mothers with children aged 0–4 years were in paid employment. 

“Gone are the days when female doctors had informal arrangements with members of the community, or within their workplace, to care for their children during extended work hours or when they were called in for emergencies,” Dr Harrison said.