Analysis of the HealthCare Skill Shortage Issue of Australia

Background
Australian healthcare system is composed of quality and affordable services that enables its citizens
to have lengthy life expectations. This high ranked, international healthcare system is currently
under threat of a number of health service challenges and the confronted major healthcare issue that
needs to immediately get addressed is the exponential skill shortage of healthcare professionals
(Department of Health and Aged Care- Australian Government, 2019).

Causes for the Issue

The diminished overall supply against the rapidly growing demand is the primary root cause behind
healthcare skill shortage issue of Australia. The prevailing issues of surging aged population,
skyrocketed number of Covid-19 patients and increased mental health concerns have intensified this
condition. Specifically, the medical professionals including doctors, nurses, laboratorians and
professional healthcare providers are currently experiencing a exacerbated burnout due to the
complicatedness of their job role especially with the pandemic impact, international travelling
restrictions and complicatedness in healthcare training (Brooks, et al., 2003).

Movement Restrictions
Australia is a country with a high proportion of overseas workforce in the medical service sector. As
cross boarders got closed at the peak of the pandemic, many healthcare professionals who were
being working in Australia returned to their residents outside Australia. Hence, the skilled migrants
level got drastically reduced as the international workforce got relocated (Waine, 2022).

Burnout Situation of the Current HealthCare Workforce

Most of the workforce is suffering with stress and burnout that has pushed them to decide on
leaving the sector by considering about their mental health. The remaining workforce have got
pushed to perform tasks that they are typically not used to and they are forced to upskill their
potentialities. This severe burnout has enabled the workers to switch their job roles. For instance,
nurses are moving to medical research, education and occupational therapy practices by shifting
their careers (Waine, 2022).

Complicatedness Associated with Skill Training

There exists a considerable delay associated with training the health students as with the
insufficiency of the trained staff. With the intensified pressure came along with the job complexity,
training the students have become a lower priority for most experience healthcare workers. The
isolation requirements, inadequacy of training material, urge for remote training and scarcity of
opportunities at universities for training facilitation are the some of the vital aspects of this issue
(Waine, 2022).

Density of the Healthcare Shortage

Over 460,000 nurses and midwifes and around 130,000 medical specialists and doctors are
registered in Australia. Recent evidential statistics have revealed a 30% turnover of nurses every
year and 75% of the registered nurses are dissatisfied with their present employment and
considering about a job quitting. The aged care skill shortage is assumed to reach the level of
110,000 in the next decade and 400,000 by 2050 as suggesting by the Committee for Economic
Development of Australia (Department of Health and Aged Care : Australia, 2023). It is assumed
that the aged population over the age limit of 65 years, would reach the level of 21% of the total
population by 2053. The country faces more challenges with the current system to manage the
demand for at-home care due to labour shortages. Registered home care professionals are low in
number due to the fact of low wage rates. Hence, the government has to take up necessary actions to
apportion more funds on aged care. Correspondingly, under its federal budget for the upcoming
fiscal year of 2023-24, an yearly wage increment of $10,000 for that sector is proposed (Evans &
Lowrey, 2023).

Basically in the remote and rural areas, the doctor shortage is counted to be around 9,000. It raises
medical costs for patients to be paid on doctors by limiting the number of physicians available at
public hospitals. People who are incapable of affording the high medical charges have to remain for
high waiting periods and their level of distress massively rise up. All these facts express the potency
of the current Australian healthcare issue and necessity for immediate actions to resolve the
prevailing criticalities.

Elaboration of the Issue

Opportunity Cost
Every healthcare system has an opportunity cost. Offering services under a fixed budget, the
government needs to forego resources that to be allocated on other public services if the healthcare
service demand would rapidly rise up. Australia is currently undergoing this challenge due to high
turnover rates in healthcare labour force and rising health diseases.

Aggregated Demand and Aggregated Supply

As explained in detail, meeting the health service demand is quite complex at Australia due to the
lack of aggregated supply in healthcare professionals.
For instance, the aging population is intensively get growing thus the demand for healthcare
facilities have risen up. It is assumed that the aged population over the age limit of 65 years, would
reach the level of 21% of the total population by 2053. To handle constant and serious illnesses
followed by fragility and disabilities as citizens approach their old ages, actions have to be taken to
prevent and control chronic illnesses like diabetics that would be costing a high health cost. Such
treatments require personalized treatment models and a well-trained healthcare workforce which
stresses the issue of professional skill shortage (Department of Health and Aged Care- Australian
Government, 2019).

Market Failures
Market failure is a situation under which an efficient resource allocation would not take place. This
healthcare skill shortage problem drives the economy towards a monopoly causing imbalanced
pricing. Granting patents on new discoveries would allow the medical inventor to get facilitated
with a temporary monopoly. The skill shortage of medical researchers has caused the limited
number of studies and high level of support and interventions from the government is required to
subsidize these experiments to reduce market imperfections. The monopoly price costs more than
the marginal cost of production, hence this strategy is not ideal. Government intervention is
required to tackle this situation and get those new information added up to the pool of existing
medical knowledge. Because of the high monopoly price, fewer people use the patented treatment,
which results in inefficiencies as indicated by the deadweight loss. Additionally, people with lesser
incomes may be disproportionately affected by the high cost (Harvard University, 2017).

Further, under a market monopoly, some people feel compelled to forgo experimental therapies that
they might have assisted from. Due to their inability to assess the quality of the medical services
and products they are purchasing, consumers make poor decisions and expose themselves to moral
risks.

Fiscal Policy
Accelerating healthcare demands are putting high pressures and burdens on the federal budget
causing a resource redistribution. The health spending has accounted for 10.7% of the gross
domestic product of the country in 2020/21 which is .0.5% higher than the spending in 2019/20
(Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2022). Moreover, the government has to be considerate
about tax incentives on healthcare professionals to remain with their job roles.

Conclusion
Supply and distribution of healthcare services has led serious shortages in making timely responses
for emerging demands in Australia. To drive health equity, efficient and lasting solutions have to be
initiated such as recruiting more skilled migrants, inspiring students to take part of health related
programs, and allocating more fundings on healthcare developments.

References
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Brooks, P. M., Lapsley, H. M. & Butt, D. B., 2003. Medical workforce issues in Australia:
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Harvard University, 2017. The Economics of HealthCare, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard

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