Palaszczuk Government delivers additional investment to attract health workers

• The Palaszczuk Government is delivering a workforce attraction scheme to incentivise interstate health workers to move to Queensland.
• Health workers who work interstate will receive payments of up to $20,000 if they make the decision to come and work for Queensland Health.
• Doctors who make the decision to take up a job in regional and remote Queensland will be paid up to an additional $70,000.

The Palaszczuk Government is delivering a significant investment to attract interstate and international health practitioners to Queensland.

The new Workforce Attraction Incentive Transfer Scheme will provide interstate and international medical practitioners with a payment of up to $70,000 to move to Queensland with generous $20,000 payments for healthcare workers too.

Applicants can take their pick from one of more than 2400 communities, to qualify they must call them home for more than 12 months.

Quotes from Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk:

“Our government is committed to delivering more frontline health workers right across Queensland,” the Premier said. 

“Since 2015 across Queensland we’ve hired over 17,000 extra frontline workers, and we want to see this grow.

“With global competition for health workers at an all-time high, our government is dedicated to doing everything that we can to attract and retain frontline health workers.”

Quotes from Health Minister Yvette D’Ath:

 “We knew we had to think outside the square to lure doctors here as opposed to other parts of the country, innovative policies like this means every dollar works hard for Queenslanders delivering the right care at the right time, in the right place,” the Minister said.

“Every Queenslander deserves quality, world class health care no matter where they live.

“With access to bulk billing GPs at historic lows, the Palaszczuk Government is taking steps to ensure our regional communities have access to world-class doctors.

“It really is a win-win, more quality healthcare workers in our unique regional and remote communities, more efficient use of resources and a great career memories to be made.

“We welcome healthcare workers to experience why we all love Queensland while also making a new life delivering positive results and peace of mind for our regional and remote communities”.

Background:

Interstate and international healthcare workers who move into Queensland (including Brisbane) will receive a $10,000 incentive on commencement.

They will receive another $10,000 after completing a full 12 months of service in Queensland.

Healthcare workers eligible for this incentive are:

• Medical doctors and specialists
• Nurses
• Midwives
• Allied health professionals
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workforce
• Dentists
• Oral Health Practitioner
• Scientific Officers

There will also be an incentive for medical practitioners who commence in a rural or remote (Modified Monash 4 to 7) location who will receive $25,000 after three months and a further $25,000 after 12 months.

This payment is available to medical practitioners already working in Queensland.

This will capture communities including:

• Bowen
• Torres Strait
• Mareeba
• Atherton
• Emerald
• Longreach
• Charleville
• Blackall
• Roma
• Mount Isa
• Cloncurry

Interstate and international medical practitioners will be eligible for both payments and stand to benefit by an additional $70,000 if they move to Queensland.

For more information, visit https://www.healthycareers.health.qld.gov.au/attraction-incentives

ENDS

Media Contact: Cullen Robinson - -0418 170 474