Doctors, nurses raise alarm as scheme for bush health workers on chopping block

A program encouraging healthcare professionals to work in rural and remote areas appears set to be axed by the Queensland state government.

The Workforce Attraction Incentive Scheme provides additional funding to doctors, nurses and other Queensland Health employees who relocate to underserviced locations outside major regional centres.

Internal government emails leaked to the Labor opposition say “a decision has been made to end” the program from December 31, 2024.

Regional hospitals are struggling to recruit and retain staff. Credit: Dan Peled

According to the email, eligible employees who started work under the program would continue to receive payments.

Premier David Crisafulli did not answer questions directly when pressed on the matter in parliament on Tuesday.

“Every single cent in the budget will be spent on attracting the best and brightest,” he said.

“I understand what those opposite and trying to do. They are trying to paint a picture that does not exist because it’s all they know. Scare campaigns are all they know.”

Health Minister Tim Nicholls MP said that if the scheme continued until December 2026 as intended, there would be a projected overspend of $165.8 million.

“WAIS did not achieve the intended workforce outcomes to either grow the clinician workforce or discourage clinicians leaving,” he told The Courier-Mail.

The Queensland Nurses and Midwives Union (QNMU) has called for a replacement scheme to be introduced, saying the axing could worsen existing chronic staff shortages outside major cities.

“To scrap it entirely without any alternative risks exacerbating already serious staffing issues in our regions,” secretary Sarah Beaman said in a statement.

“In the absence of any clear details about what is going to replace the scheme, we are asking the Government to give regional Queenslanders clarity around how their services will be retained, and critical workforce shortages will be managed.”

AMA Queensland president Dr Nick Yim echoed the sentiment in an interview with 4BC.

“We will meet with the government to discuss some strategies,” he said.

“We have a healthcare workforce shortage. We need to recruit. We also need to train, and also we need to retain them, we have to work out how we’re going to implement this moving forward.”

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