The Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences has provided a submission to the Australian Government Treasury’s Employment White Paper consultation.
The Treasury consulted on their Employment White Paper in late 2022, which aims to provide a roadmap for Australia to build a bigger, better-trained and more productive workforce to boost incomes and living standards and create more opportunities for Australians. The White Paper builds on the outcomes of the 2022 Jobs and Skills Summit and it has an overarching focus on the objectives of full employment and productivity growth for the benefit of all Australians.
The Academy submitted our consultation response in November 2022, which highlighted key points on the health and medical sciences workforce. This submission includes the following key messages:
- A lack of long-term, secure funding has created widespread job insecurities for Australia’s research and innovation workforce, including – concerningly – in the health sector.
- There are diversity and inclusion issues within the healthcare and health research sectors, which hinder efforts to develop a high performing workforce, such as gender inequities for grant applications and funding.
- Insufficient planning and infrastructure means Australia lacks the workforce to fully realise its data-enabled research potential.
- Investing in research and innovation creates high value, knowledge-based jobs that support economic growth and productivity. A highly skilled workforce encourages international inward investment and development of products and services that are at the frontier of innovation.
- A research workforce that reflects the full diversity of the population in which it works is best equipped to understand and address the health challenges faced by all the individuals and communities within it.
- Embedding research and innovation as cores function of the health system will improve productivity, retention and job satisfaction within the health workforce.
Download the Academy’s full submission below.