The ACT is investing in services and health infrastructure, including nurse-to-patient ratios, the Canberra Hospital Expansion and a new northside hospital. We will continue to grow the ACT workforce to meet the increasing healthcare needs of our city and region.
The ACT health workforce provides health services with transitions of care across public, private and non-government sectors, within the ACT and to surrounding NSW regions. Our health workforce includes those registered by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra), self-regulated and unregulated, technical and non-clinical staff, students and care workers.
ACT health workforce statistics
See ACT Health System-Wide Data.
ACT health workforce recruitment
Information about career opportunities in the ACT health system can be accessed at Work | Canberra.
ACT Health Workforce Strategy 2023-2032
The ACT Health Workforce Strategy 2023-2032 sets out the territory wide approach to building a sustainable health workforce and will support the territory and surrounding regions to predict and respond to workforce challenges.
The Strategy identifies eight priority areas to target specific workforce needs. From creating exciting career paths and investing in data intelligence, to ensuring we provide a culturally safe environment for our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workforce, these priorities will help us deliver on our collective ambition to be the most capable health workforce in Australia.
The Strategy will be implemented over 10 years. Action plans will be developed with key stakeholders including public and private health organisations, education providers and the non-government sector and will detail the strategic objectives and actions to be delivered. The 2024-2026 Action Plan is scheduled to be developed and finalised before the end of 2023.
The Strategy will support national, organisational and profession-specific workforce plans and frameworks to build a health workforce that meets the needs of Canberra and the surrounding regions.
Table 1 details the progress of the 23 early actions published in the ACT Health Workforce Strategy 2023-2032.
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Early Action
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Project phase
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Estimated timeline for completion
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|---|
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Strategic Priority 1 - A focus on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workforce and a culturally safe environment
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1. Establish an employment program with mentoring and support to develop a network across Health with at least five identified positions across the ACTHD.
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Planning
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End 2024
|
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2. Meet with key community and service provider representatives to identify priority actions to be implemented under the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workforce Strategic Framework and Implementation Plan 2023-2031.
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Planning
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End 2024
|
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Strategic Priority 2 - Investing in workforce planning and intelligence
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3. Partner with Australian National University College of Health and Medicine’s, National Centre for Workforce Studies, and the Capital Health Network to improve the understanding and modelling of the health workforce across the Territory.
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Implementation
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2025
|
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4. Identify, collect, and analyse reliable, recent and applicable baseline workforce planning data.
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Implementation
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Ongoing
|
|
5. Explore ways to better understand the workforce of self regulated and unregulated health professions across different sectors and contexts in the ACT.
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Planning
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End 2024
|
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6. Commit to improving publicly available health workforce data.
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Completed
See ACT Health System-Wide Data.
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Completed
|
|
Strategic Priority 3 - Promoting a collaborative health system
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7. Identify barriers and opportunities to improve partnerships across Canberra and the surrounds through the leaders of those health systems.
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Implementation
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End 2024
|
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Strategic Priority 4 - Embracing diversity and a culture of respect to deliver a safe and welcoming workplace
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8. Implement the Health Workforce Wellbeing and Recovery Fund.
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Implementation
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2027
|
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9. Embed a positive workplace culture as business as usual.
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Implementation
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Ongoing
|
|
10. Work with education and training partners to embed a trauma-informed, domestic, family and sexual violence informed, and disability confident approach into education and training pathways.
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Planning
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End 2024
|
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11. Support the ACT Disability Strategy to improve career pathways in health for people with disability.
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Planning
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Ongoing
|
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Strategic Priority 5 – Delivering excellence
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12. Explore models and partnerships to grow and sustain a learning health system in the ACT.
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Implementation
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Ongoing
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|
13. Work with health practitioners to identify barriers to professions working to their top of scope, prioritising key areas of service demand and reform as identified by the ACT Health Services Plan.
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Implementation
|
End 2024
|
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14. Work in partnership with the Better together: A strategic plan for research in the ACT health system 2022–2030 implementation teams.
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Implementation
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Ongoing
|
|
Strategic Priority 6 – Rewarding careers
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15. Link in with the existing committees focused on career pathways and the transition of students into the workforce.
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Implementation
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Ongoing
|
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16. Work with Education Providers and local health services to map ACT career pathways to understand where our health workforce comes from, how long they stay, why they leave and where they go.
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Implementation
|
End 2024
|
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17. Develop a discussion paper on barriers and opportunities to increase flexibility and mobility across the health system.
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Implementation
|
End 2023
|
|
18. Map migration pathways for international recruitment.
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Completed
A high-level map on the Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) visa subclass 494 can be found in the Overview of employer sponsored visas.
The Australian Government is currently reviewing Australia's migration system, and the regulatory settings relating to health practitioner registration and qualification recognition for overseas trained health professionals and international students who have studied in Australia. This will impact the migration pathways for international recruitment.
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Completed
|
|
19. Convene a student round table or forum in 2023.
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Completed
Forum was held on 26 April 2023. See ACT Health Workforce Strategy: Student Round Table Forum for a summary of the forum.
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Completed
|
|
20. Partner with local education providers to identify areas for professional development, credentialling and qualification pathways.
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Planning
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End 2024
|
|
Strategic Priority 7 – Stepping into the future
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21. Identify innovation in technology, models of care and service delivery occurring locally, nationally, and internationally for consideration in the ACT.
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Commenced
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Ongoing
|
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Strategic Priority 8 – Advocating for reform
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22. Support Health Ministers to advocate for health workforce supply and models that will be effective for the ACT.
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Commenced
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Ongoing
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23. Support work to explore optimal and sustainable primary and community care models for the ACT.
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Commenced
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Ongoing
|
Advocating for the ACT health workforce
The sustainability of the health workforce is a priority of states and territories across Australia. A national Health Workforce Taskforce has been established to consider health workforce issues and progress priorities agreed at the Health Chief Executives Forum and the Health Ministers’ Meeting, which is currently chaired by Ms Rachel Stephen-Smith MLA, Minister for Health, ACT.
The Health Workforce Taskforce is currently prioritising migration, workforce intelligence, and registration and assessment. The ACT is an active participant to represent the Territory’s concerns, influence the national strategic direction and advocate for reform.
Territory-wide Health Workforce Planning Group
A new governance committee, the Territory-wide Health Workforce Planning Group, has been established to focus on the sustainability of health workforce. It will consider the health workforce employed in all sectors across the ACT, including community, education, disability and ageing services, and the public health service. It will:
- oversee the implementation of the ACT Health Workforce Strategy 2023-2032 and its actions plans, including the design of individual projects and agreed actions.
- consider health workforce reports and projects under the National Health Workforce Taskforce and other committees and provide views and advice on their application to the ACT
- develop targeted interventions as requested by ACT Health System Council.
Terms of Reference - Territory-wide Health Workforce Planning Group
Contact
Team: Health Workforce Strategy Unit
Phone: 02 5124 9966
Email: territoryhealthworkforce@act.gov.au
