With nurse strikes, telehealth, Covid-19 and now the establishment of the Division of Regional Health all drawing big headlines in the last year, rural and regional health will inevitably be a major campaign issue for the upcoming federal election. 

In the most recent rounds of the inquiry into health and hospital services in rural, regional and remote NSW that had already found damning evidence of insufficient care, NSW Health official Nigel Lyons apologised for the standard of health provided in rural areas. 

“We acknowledge there has been evidence to the inquiry of regrettable patient experiences and outcomes. To these people and their families we sincerely apologise for experiences that did not meet the high standards of health care we expect in this State,” Mr Lyons said.



The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) has called on the major parties to raise their standards when it comes to health, and give general practice care a much-needed ‘shot in the arm’. 

The RACGP called for larger investments in rural healthcare including GPs using advanced skills in rural areas, and providing access to the relevant specialty Medicare Benefits Schedule items for that GP. 

RACGP President Karen Price said new and improved health and GP policies should be at the centre of the federal election campaign. 

“Recently, a Senate Committee’s interim report into the provision of general practitioner and related primary health services to outer metropolitan, rural, and regional Australians recommended the federal Government investigate substantially increasing Medicare rebates for all levels of GP consultations…We’ve done the reviews; we’ve done the consultations, and now it’s time to act,” Dr Price said.

While Medicare indeed has already become a large part of the Labor campaign, pledging to restore affordable telehealth psychiatric consultations for people living in regional and rural Australia, the parties haven’t been so vocal on every health issue facing them.

Australian Private Hospitals Association (APHA) CEO Michale Roff believes the single biggest challenge facing healthcare is the shortage of healthcare professionals.  

“The extent of the shortage is huge and so far, neither major party has put forward a clear plan to fix it,” Mr Roff said. 

“With no skilled migration for two years due to international travel restrictions and a workforce fatigued from the stress of managing COVID-19, the health care system is struggling to meet demand. Any health policy announcements made during the election campaign will be meaningless without a plan to immediately fix the health workforce shortages,” he said.

“We are facing large backlogs in essential surgery across both public and private hospitals, and without skilled migration to address the immediate shortage, Australians will be forced to wait longer, with ever decreasing quality of life, to get the surgery they need.” 

Mr Roff challenged both parties to develop a National Health Workforce Plan as a matter of urgency.