Workforce Insights: June 2026
In this edition of Workforce Insights, we highlight challenges affecting physicians and trainees across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. Key areas include access to physician care, support for regional, rural and remote practice, collaborative models of care and building a sustainable workforce. We also provide an update on our advocacy efforts to address these challenges and strengthen support for physicians.
Upcoming elections present an important opportunity to address the workforce challenges affecting physicians. We are advocating for policies that ensure timely access to specialist care, strengthen workforce supply, and support retention – particularly in underserved areas.
Aotearoa New Zealand election
In Aotearoa New Zealand, we will be calling on all political parties to address the growing pressures facing physicians. Our priorities include training enough physicians to meet future demand, improving retention, and ensuring physicians are supported to practise in regional, rural and remote communities. We will advocate for a healthcare system where physicians can provide timely, safe and sustainable specialist care to everyone, regardless of where they live.
Aotearoa New Zealand members, your voice is critical in shaping our election advocacy. We'll be in touch soon with opportunities to contribute.
Victorian election
As the Victorian election approaches later in the year, we have participated in debates on the Victorian Government’s new Specialist Care Reform Blueprint. While the Blueprint's focus on new models of care and chronic disease management is welcome, successful implementation will require appropriate operational planning, funding and support for the effective use of telehealth.
These issues, along with access to regional physician care, regional training pathways and support for an overstretched workforce, are likely to be at the centre of College election advocacy in the months ahead.
A new Australian Parliamentary Inquiry into Rural, Regional and Remote Medicare Access has given us the opportunity to highlight the need for equitable access to care. This includes expanded regional training pathways, targeted incentives to attract physicians and trainees to regional, rural and remote areas, improved Medicare design, multidisciplinary care models, and sustained telehealth support.
We want to hear from members across all specialties, locations and practice settings to ensure the inquiry reflects the realities of clinical practice. Please share your experiences and insights by emailing Health.Reform@racp.edu.au.
This inquiry builds on our ongoing advocacy highlighting that barriers to specialist care are complex and interconnected. Key challenges include Medicare rebates that no longer reflect the true cost of care, rising practice expenses, workforce shortages and maldistribution, and insufficient public outpatient capacity. The design of private health insurance also remains a significant issue, reflected in our advocacy through the Medical Costs Finder Inquiry, recent media engagement and the ongoing Rural, Regional and Remote Medicare Access and Funding Inquiry.
The Australian Parliamentary Inquiry into Rural, Regional and Remote Medicare Access has given the College the opportunity to highlight the need for equitable access to care through expanded regional training pathways, targeted incentives to attract physicians and trainees to regional, rural and remote areas, improved Medicare design, multidisciplinary care models and sustained telehealth support.
Better workforce planning and supporting our regional, rural and remote trainees have been a key feature of recent government engagement in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory – with governments recognising the need for co-ordinated workforce planning and improved data sharing.
We're also looking forward to sharing insights from this work at the upcoming National Rural Health Alliance Conference on 14 to 16 September, where three College-led abstracts have been accepted.
For members training and working outside metropolitan centres, access to high-quality training opportunities remains critical to building and sustaining the physician workforce. We have been closely involved in the Australian Government’s redesign of the Specialist Training Program. Our work includes advocating for training places in regional, rural and remote communities, Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations, and community and private settings that offer valuable experiences not available in public hospitals and outpatient clinics.
We have also highlighted the importance of the Flexible Approach to Training in Expanded Settings (FATES) program in supporting growth of regional, rural and remote training pathways. Initiatives such as the Western Australia Rural Physician Training Pathway and the GenMed Horizons project are helping create more opportunities for trainees while supporting the long-term sustainability of specialist services in regional communities.
The recent federal Budget extended the current Specialist Training Program for a further year, allowing time for the redesign to be completed.
Many physicians deliver collaborative models of care that improve access for patients while making better use of specialist expertise. As demand for care continues growing, collaborative and multidisciplinary approaches will be critical to ensuring patients receive the right care, at the right time, in the right setting.
These models can help patients access specialist advice sooner, reduce travel and waiting times and improve outcomes for people with chronic and complex conditions through GP support with specialist input. They can also reduce avoidable hospital admissions and emergency department presentations while easing out-of-pocket costs for patients.
The Australian Government's work to modernise Medicare referral pathways has provided an opportunity for us to highlight what works and what is needed to support these models. Key priorities include more flexible referral arrangements, improved digital health infrastructure and reducing unnecessary administrative burden so physicians can spend more time focused on patient care.
Our work across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand to develop a new Youth Appropriate Health Care Statement has also reinforced the importance of multidisciplinary care in supporting young people with complex and evolving health needs.
As reforms to ADHD care continue across Australia, members remain at the centre of discussions on how best to deliver timely, safe and coordinated care. We are advocating for the right mix of GPs, paediatric and other specialist care to ensure timely access and safe care, with work now focusing on medicine prescribing, GP training and care pathways at national, state and territory levels.
Creating culturally safe healthcare environments remains essential to improving health outcomes and reducing inequities. Cultural safety requires physicians to reflect on their own practice, understand the structural and historical drivers of inequity, and engage respectfully with diverse communities.
In Aotearoa New Zealand, we have been working with Te Kaunihera Rata o Aotearoa | The Medical Council of New Zealand on updated cultural competence and a dedicated hauora Māori statement. We've been advocating for a strong focus on Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the need to address racism, bias, power imbalances and the structural factors that continue to influence health outcomes.
The focus of the Australian Federal Budget was on public hospitals, primary and aged care, and NDIS reforms. It also included key initiatives to support Aboriginal Community-Controlled Health Services, upgrades to My Health Record, and growth in medical research and clinical trials.
The Thriving Kids initiative, a key part of NDIS reforms, has been a key area where the College and its members have been working with governments to make sure children moving off the NDIS have the care and supports they need.
From AI scribes and clinical assistants to decision-support tools, artificial intelligence is rapidly changing the way healthcare is delivered. Our Evolve AI webinar series focuses on practical, real-world applications that can help reduce administrative burden, improve efficiency and support clinical decision-making.
Upcoming webinars
- Thursday, 25 June 2026 | Using AI tools to select and interpret laboratory investigations
- Wednesday, 19 August 2026 | AI Roundtable – challenges and future directions
Each webinar attracts CPD hours and provides an opportunity to explore how AI can be used safely and effectively in clinical practice.
Register now
Missed a session?
You can access recordings and case studies on the previous webinars including AI in healthcare, using AI scribes and assistants effectively, and predicting and preventing care-related harm. The webinar recording and case study for AI-supported clinical decision-making will also be added soon.
Emerging evidence, evolving guidelines and increasingly complex patient needs are changing the way physicians practise. The RACP LIFT Rapid-Fire Clinical Updates deliver the latest clinical insights, practical takeaways and expert perspectives in one high-impact program.
Following strong attendance in Sydney and Auckland, the final two clinical updates for 2026 are coming to Melbourne and Brisbane, with both in-person and virtual attendance available.
Saturday, 1 August | Melbourne | Respiratory, infectious disease and critical illness
Explore the latest advances in diagnostics, risk stratification and acute care, with expert updates spanning respiratory and sleep medicine, infectious diseases, emergency medicine, sexual health medicine, and general and acute care.
Find out more
Thursday, 20 August | Brisbane | Acute, population and complex care
As populations age and patient needs become more complex, physicians are facing new challenges in delivering coordinated care. Join experts in geriatric medicine, Indigenous health, public health, palliative care, and general and acute medicine to explore practical approaches to improving care and outcomes across all settings.
Find out more
As healthcare workers who dedicate our lives to helping others, it’s important to take the time to care for ourselves. We would like to remind everyone that it's okay to not be okay. If you need someone to talk to, you can reach out to the RACP Support Program. It's a free, 24/7 and completely confidential support service that is delivered externally through Converge International.
Whether you have something worrying on your mind, are finding getting out of bed to be a struggle, or just feel like talking to someone for helpful, judgement-free advice, this free support service may be just what you need.
Find out more