The Rudd Government will invest $1.1 billion in training more doctors, nurses and other health professionals.
This is the single biggest investment in the health workforce ever made by an Australian Government.
This funding will support a massive expansion in undergraduate clinical training places in public hospitals and other health settings.
Doctors and nurses are the lifeblood of our health system, and this will ensure there will be far more doctors and nurses in years to come.
The Commonwealth contribution to the Health Workforce National Partnership includes:
* Almost $500 million to support the expansion of undergraduate clinical training places, and directly subsidise clinical training for undergraduate medical, nursing and allied health students
* $86 million to provide 212 additional ongoing GP training places and 73 additional specialist training places in the private sector, boosting the total number of GP training places to over 800 from 2011 onwards - a 33% per cent increase on the cap of 600 places imposed since 2004.
* $28 million to help train approximately 18,000 nurse supervisors, 5,000 allied health and VET supervisors, and 7,000 medical supervisors - to ensure there is sufficient capacity to supervise additional students coming through the system
* $175.6 million investment in capital infrastructure to support training of the future health workforce, including funding for the construction of new and mobile high-tech simulated learning environments and the expansion of education and training facilities at major regional hospitals
* $264 million will be provided for other important initiatives including the establishment of a National Workforce Agency - to better coordinate clinical training across a range of workforce settings, and assist with workforce planning, as recommended by the Productivity Commission in its 2005 report on Australia's Health Workforce.
In order to practise as doctors, medical graduates need to be trained in clinical settings. With student numbers rising, and hospitals under pressure after years of underfunding by the Commonwealth, there would not have been enough training places.
Student numbers are expected to increase from 63,000 in 2009 to 78,000 in 2013.
In 2013, this funding will support undergraduate clinical training for an additional 2,500 medical students, 10,800 nursing students, and 1,500 allied health students, compared to 2009.
Without this funding, a significant bottleneck in training for doctors would have been created. Many doctors would have emerged from university, with no training places to go to. The Rudd Government's investment will prevent this from happening, with increased GP training places and specialist training opportunities.
States and Territories have agreed to provide matching funding of $540 million for the training component of the National Partnership.
The Rudd Government's investment in clinical training recognises that training the health workforce for the future is a shared Commonwealth-State responsibility.