The February policy agenda has focused on the College’s Pre-Budget submission, feedback to a Palliative Medicine Scoping review, a response to the Senate Community Affairs Committee inquiry into menopause related issues, and continuing work on the Better Medicare and Scope of Practice Phase 2 consultations.

Pre-Budget Submission 
The College finalised its Pre-Budget submission earlier this month calling for increased investment in Rural Generalism. Key funding priorities include:

  • Increasing funding to enable ACRRM to sustainably train and support up to 500 RG trainees annually
  • Strengthening Medicare within the rural and remote context through progressing RG-specific MBS item numbers
  •  Incentivising RG and GP training through the introduction on MBS funding for GP Supervisors
  • Extending the RG training pipeline through a project to promote a career in rural medicine in rural and regional secondary schools.
  • ACRRM has developed a range of Federal Budget 2024-25 resources for members, including a paper noting key initiatives and recommendations.

Scope of Practice Review
The Scope of Practice Review continues with the release of the first Issues Paper.  This paper focuses on health professionals who provide primary care and the associated evidence about benefits, risks, barriers and enablers to support them to work to their full scope of practice.

The Review team welcomes feedback from both individuals and organisations.  This can be provided through a written submission or by completing an online survey.  ACRRM will be making a submission. Members are encouraged to contact the Policy team with any feedback to inform this submission, and the College also encourages members to participate individually.

ACRRM will continue to fully engage with this important review and keep members informed.

Working Better for Medicare Review – seeking member feedback
Consultation on the Working Better for Medicare Review , commissioned by the Commonwealth Health Minister, Mark Butler, and led by Prof Sabina Knight and Adjunct Prof Mick Reid, closes later this week. 

The review has a strong focus on rural and remote health, seeking to provide a wide-ranging look into how to distribute doctors and other health workers more equitably around the country, focusing on policy levers including the District of Workforce shortage (DWS), Distribution Priority Area (DPA) and Modified Monash Model (MMM). 
ACRRMs submission notes that whilst Australia’s overall doctor to population ratio is among the highest in the OECD and many areas of medical practice are in plentiful supply or even over-supply, maldistribution of the medical workforce, both in terms of location and specialisation, continues to result in pervasive workforce shortages across rural and remote Australia.

  • Rural and remote models of care should be designed and funded to ensure peoples’ access to continuous, local healthcare.
  • The DPA and DWS programs would benefit from incorporating consideration not just of workforce need but also the appropriate model of care for each rural area.  
  • The College acknowledges the considerable scholarship that underpins the validity of the MMM and the significant input of rural doctors and communities who informed it, whilst recognising that the model will not perfectly reflect need and there may be need for additional mechanisms to accommodate exceptions.

Feedback on the Rural and Remote Institute of Palliative Medicine Scoping Review

  • The College has provided feedback to the Australia and New Zealand Society of Palliative Medicine’s scoping review, which sets out to determine the need for and feasibility of establishing a Rural and Remote Institute of Palliative Medicine (RRIPM).
  • The key objective of the project is to develop a Palliative Medicine Training Network in rural and remote communities. 
    Whilst the College strongly supports this objective, ACRRM contends that the Review does not sufficiently recognise the crucial role played by Rural Generalists (RGs) and specialist General Practitioners (GPs). 
  • The review would  benefit from a more detailed consideration of how RGs can work with their non-GP specialist colleagues as part of a team-based, multidisciplinary care approach to providing the important palliative care services for rural and remote patients, their carers and communities; as well as  contributing to the education and support of the next generation of practitioners from all craft groups.

Feedback to the Senate Community Affairs Committee on Menopause/Perimenopause
Australian women live around one third of their lives after menopause, and it is therefore increasingly important that they can access the treatment and support they need to optimise their physical and mental health during these  years: not only from the perspective of managing symptoms, but also ensuring biological changes are addressed.

In its response to the Senate, ACRRM recognised that there is scope for improvements to clinician knowledge and focus, access to services, and research in these areas and outlined positive initiatives to achieve this, for the benefit of women in remote and rural areas.

  • Rural Generalists and specialist General Practitioners (GPs) are ideally placed to provide front line management of menopause and associated issues at a primary care level, including assessment, treatment, and support. 
  • In order to support this RG workforce, additional resources, training and support will be required. 
  • This is particularly relevant for management of complex and chronic menopause and perimenopause issues, which similarly to the ongoing management of complex and chronic disease, is currently underpaid and clearly undervalued compared with the income which can be generated by a high-volume throughput of patients.  

Contact the Policy team
The College advocates on behalf of our members in a range of forums, collaborations, and partnerships. The College regularly engages with policy development, review and reform agendas at national level. We provide written submissions, organisational delegations, consultations, private briefings and in-person evidence to a range of national reform agendas. 

The Policy team values all members’ input on policy issues as they arise. Member input allows us to provide submissions and representations which are more powerful and more reflective of the realities of rural and remote practice on the frontline. 

Contact Policy@acrrm.org.au  if you would like to provide feedback on a particular issue or consultation.