Half the services half the workforce

People in rural, regional and remote Australia experience worse health outcomes, have less access to services and are exposed to increased health risks. Service access data reveals that people in remote areas access MBS services at up to half the rate as people in metropolitan areas and the health workforce is under-represented. Some health professional disciplines don’t exist in many remote areas. In others, professions like optometrists, occupational therapists, dietitians and podiatrists are represented at between one fifth and one third the rate of metropolitan areas.

MBS data source:  http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/Annual-Medicare-Statistics

Health Workforce Australia (2014): Australia’s Health Workforce Series  

AIHW: https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia

Rural Health Statistics – AIHW 2018 Australia’s Health.

Mortality data – AIHW National Mortality database 2016