The Rural Doctors Association of Australia says there’s an urgent need to boost childcare services in rural and remote towns for local doctors, health and other professionals, to support them to stay in those towns and help encourage more of their peers to ‘go rural’.
RDAA President Dr RT Lewandowski said, ‘A lack of childcare services in rural and remote communities is discouraging more doctors and other health professionals from moving to the bush, and making it harder to keep existing rural health professionals there – particularly those with a young family or planning on having a family.
‘Access to quality childcare and early learning is a critical issue for all families in rural and remote Australia…and rural doctors and other health professionals are not immune. Not being able to access childcare makes a big difference to the number of hours a doctor or other rural health professional can work to provide health services in their community.
‘In some cases the lack of childcare in their rural town means a doctor has to leave that community for a larger centre with more childcare options, and it discourages other doctors from moving to the community.
‘The availability of childcare in rural and remote towns – from early childhood right through to high school – is critical in supporting the recruitment and retention of doctors and other health professionals in the bush,’ said Dr Lewandowski.
‘That is why we have made it one of our top five priorities for the forthcoming federal election and our federal pre-budget submission.’
Survey
In 2024, RDAA conducted a small survey to assess the experiences of its rural doctor members (and some other rural and remote Australia health professionals) with childcare. Over 90 per cent of respondents were located in rural, remote and very remote areas.
The survey revealed that access to childcare plays a significant role in decisions about where doctors and other health professionals choose to work – 66 per cent of respondents indicated that their ability to access suitable childcare has influenced where they are currently working, while a further 16 per cent said access to suitable childcare will affect future decisions about where they will practise.
‘In addition to the overall lack of access to childcare, rural doctors (and other healthcare professionals and essential workers) have specific childcare needs relating to shift work and/or expanded work hours, including on-call rosters,’ said Dr Lewandowski.
‘While day-based childcare may not be suitable for the after-hours or late shifts that doctors and nursing staff are required to work, boosting access to childcare during regular extended business hours goes a long way to supporting these health sector families and allowing them to call on friends and family members when needed in the evenings or weekends, while not relying on them for all of their childcare needs.
‘Getting childcare right in rural and remote communities can make a big difference to the range of health services that can be provided in those communities, including even basic access to local healthcare,’ he said.
‘We urge the major parties to commit to drive change in this critical area if elected to government.’
