Dire warning amid rural Queensland healthcare exodus

Rural Queensland is losing healthcare workers at a frightening rate — five per cent higher than in metro areas — sparking a dire warning from the peak medical body.

Australian Medical Association union president, Dr Nick Yim. Picture: Russell Shakespeare.

Rural Queensland is losing healthcare workers at a frightening rate — five per cent higher than in metro areas — sparking a dire warning from the peak medical body that a 30 per cent rise in hiring needs to happen by 2032.

“The health sector is currently experiencing the highest turnover since the peak of Covid in 2020, with rural and remote regions suffering the most at a turnover rate of 9.5 per cent – five per cent higher than in metropolitan areas,” Australian Medical Association Queensland president Nick Yim told The Courier-Mail.

The AMAQ highlights that accessing primary care remains one of the greatest challenges, with national data ranking Queensland seventh out of the eight states and territories when it comes to minimising preventable hospitalisations.

“Workforce is central to the many challenges currently facing our health system, and with shortages continuing despite 6259 new employees in 2024, it’s clear more must be done,” Dr Yim said.

“It will remain AMA Queensland’s number one priority until all patients can access safe, timely and appropriate health care, and our doctors are no longer experiencing exorbitant rates of burnout,” he said.

The doctors’ body has established its new Workforce Working Group with the aim of encouraging health professionals to move with the times and embrace new technologies and methods.

The working group will collaborate with the Queensland government to attract and retain healthcare staff.

“We need collaborative teams, reform of funding models and improved work incentives and conditions to attract and retain doctors in areas of shortage. We also need more early-career doctors to help treat patients in our busy hospitals and train up to become our future medical leaders,” Dr Yim said.

The AMAQ believes that boosting workforce requires a rethink on how things are run.

“We must also change the ways we do and think about our work. Doctors and all health professionals need to innovate and embrace new technologies and methods

while our health structures themselves must evolve.

“Barriers that prevent health workers from adapting their work must be reformed, including training pipelines, medico-legal structures and the MBS,” he said.

The working group consists of seven members plus invited guests who will meet monthly and

at any additional times the chair sees fit. The group commenced on January 16 and began working to provide advice in the lead up to the Queensland Budget in June 2025.

“We are confident our Workforce Working Group members can lean on their frontline experience to develop a range of profession-led solutions that will provoke a deeper discussion about our workforce challenges and options than we’ve been brave enough to have to date,” Dr Yim said.