Aboriginal Health

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS (14:53): My question is to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing. Will the minister update the council on efforts to increase South Australia's Aboriginal health workforce, specifically in rural and remote areas?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:53): I thank the honourable member for his question. Strengthening and sustaining the delivery of high-quality health care in rural South Australia is a major priority for the Marshall Liberal government. Meeting that priority relies first and foremost on growing a rural health workforce of well-trained and properly supported clinicians.

In the lead-up to the 2018 election, the Marshall Liberal government promised that, if elected, we would invest in building South Australia's rural health workforce and in upgrading services and facilities in rural areas so that our most valuable resource, our staff, can flourish and be properly supported in the delivery of high-quality care and treatment.

The Marshall government is delivering on substantial investments in rural health, the kind of investment that wasn't seen under the former government. The Marshall government's first budget included $20 million over four years to develop and implement a rural health workforce strategy. Over the last two years, SA's rural support service, under the leadership of Dr Hendrika Meyer, has drafted, consulted on and finalised tailored rural workforce plans for the medical workforce, the Ambulance Service workforce, the nursing and midwifery workforce and the allied and scientific health workforce in regional areas.

Last week, consultation commenced on a draft plan for the next component of the rural health workforce strategy, a plan to grow and sustain our rural Aboriginal health workforce. In rural South Australia, as is the case in other parts of Australia, the health outcomes for Aboriginal people are significantly poorer than those for non-Aboriginal people. One important way we can close the gap in health outcomes is through engaging more Aboriginal people as health practitioners.

It is widely recognised that having Aboriginal people deliver health services increases Aboriginal people's engagement with, and participation in, the health system. That engagement in and of itself increases opportunities for Aboriginal people to have their health needs met and to access medicine, treatments and professional advice that can dramatically improve not only their health and wellbeing but also the health and wellbeing of their loved ones and communities.

Half of South Australia's Aboriginal community live outside of metropolitan Adelaide. Across our six regional local health networks Aboriginal people as a percentage of the entire resident population range from 1.2 per cent of the resident population in the Barossa Hills Fleurieu Local Health Network to over 10 per cent of all people living in the Eyre and Far North Local Health Network. At present, Aboriginal people are significantly under-represented in the health workforce, including in rural settings. If SA health is going to meet its own target of 4 per cent of all of its employees being Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, we need to make changes to the way we structure our rural health services, including how we attract Aboriginal people into careers in rural health.

Traineeships, graduate programs and pilot programs can all be important entry points into a career as a health professional, but they won't lead to sustainable careers unless we are also putting in clear career pathways, supports and further training opportunities. That's why the development of a rural Aboriginal health workforce plan is so important.

The draft plan was released last week, and I would like to acknowledge the work of Sharon Perkins, the Director of Aboriginal Health in the Riverland Mallee Coorong Local Health Network, for the key role she played in its development, including through chairing the rural health workforce Aboriginal health working group. Consultation on the draft plan will be undertaken in each regional local health network over the next two months. These consultations are an important opportunity to road-test the plan with Aboriginal community members and key stakeholders ahead of its finalisation and public release.

More information on this important work, including the draft plan, is available on the SA Health website, and I hope that members of the council might look for ways to support and promote this vital project.