Health and care spending to ease rural growing pains
Rural Australians will get better access to medical care, hundreds of extra doctors and higher wages for essential workers under a budget designed to bolster the booming regions.
Healthcare is a centrepiece of the Albanese government's regional budget, with $265.4 million over four years to expand general practitioner training and ease the doctor shortage.
That will open up 200 training places per year from 2026, increasing to 400 from 2028, with half to be in country areas.
The regions will also get 17 Medicare urgent care clinics under a continued program to build 50 services across the nation over the next three years.
Funding for online mental health services - which are used by country Australians in far higher numbers - will be continued with $46 million over four years.
Despite funding in key areas of rural health, many of the measures are modest after decades of disparity and centralisation of services.
Financial modelling commissioned by the National Rural Health Alliance has shown there is a $6.55 billion annual underspend on health in the regions compared to the cities, or roughly $850 per person.
The federal budget, handed down on Tuesday night, also confirmed the government will spend $2.5 billion to increase the minimum award rate for aged care nurses after a Fair Work Commission wage decision.
More than a third of that workforce is in the regions.
Measures to improve access to childcare, including half a billion dollars to build new centres in under-served areas, were also locked in.
The lack of access to early education in country areas, where 2.8 million people live in childcare deserts, has been described as a handbrake on regional productivity and women's workforce participation.
Health inequity has long been identified as a major barrier to sustainable growth in regional Australia, which is the centre of the nation's growing renewable energy sector.
"Building Australia's future means building on the strength of our regions," Treasurer Jim Chalmers said in his budget speech to parliament.
Funding to improve digital connectivity, including improved NBN services to 334,000 regional homes and businesses was also confirmed.
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