Medical practitioner and nurse numbers in Australia rose by 13%
and 7% respectively between 2001 and 2005, according to estimates
released today in two new reports by the Australian Institute of
Health and Welfare (AIHW).
But because medical practitioners, on average, reduced their
working hours over the period (from 45.4 to 43.7 hours per week),
the increase in overall supply was around 4%, measured as full-time
equivalent (FTE) medical practitioners per 100,000 population.
Anne Broadbent, of the Institute's Labour Force Unit, said that
the Medical labour force 2005 report shows an estimated
60,252 medical practitioners employed in medicine in Australia in
2005.
'The vast majority (93%) of the medical practitioners working in
medicine were clinicians. In addition to the 40% being primary care
clinicians, 35% were specialists, and the remainder were
specialists-in-training and hospital non-specialists,' Ms Broadbent
said.
Women comprised around one-third of employed medical
practitioners in 2005, with this likely to rise in the future with
over 40% of specialists-in-training, and almost 50% of hospital
non-specialists being women.
Overall supply of employed medical practitioners was estimated
at 287 FTE per 100,000 population in 2005 compared with 277 FTE in
2001.
The supply of primary care clinicians (GPs) declined from 104
FTE per 100,000 in 2001 to 98 FTE in 2005. Primary care clinicians
comprise about 40% of all doctors.
While the overall supply of primary care clinicians declined
between 2001 and 2005, supply in remote and very remote regions
rose slightly.
As a result, in 2005 there were 92 FTE primary care clinicians
per 100,000 population in remote and very remote regions, compared
with 100 FTE in major cities. The lowest estimated supply of
primary care clinicians was in outer regional areas (84 FTE).
The Nursing and midwifery labour force 2005 report
estimates that there were 244,360 nurses employed in Australia in
2005.
There were 198,315 employed registered nurses (a rise of 8.2%
since 2001) and 46,044 employed enrolled nurses (a rise of 2.3%
since 2001). Enrolled nurses usually work with registered nurses,
undertaking less complex nursing tasks than registered nurses.
The average hours per week worked by nurses, unlike medical
practitioners, increased over the five years to 2005, from 30.7
hours in 2001 to 33.0 hours in 2005.
This rise in the average number of hours worked by nurses,
coupled with the increase in nurse numbers, resulted in the nursing
supply rising by 10% from 2001 to 2005, although the 2005 supply
was slightly down on the 2004 estimates.
The nursing supply rose from 1,031 FTE per 100,000 population in
2001 to 1,133 FTE per 100,000 population in 2005. Supply of nurses
was fairly even across geographical regions in 2005.
'The nursing workforce is ageing, with the average age of
employed nurses in 2005 being around 45 years compared with just
over 42 years in 2001. In 2005 over one-third of all nurses were
aged 50 years or over, compared with around one-quarter in 2001,'
Ms Broadbent said.
Friday 18 January 2008
Further information: Ms Anne Broadbent, tel. 02
6244 1153
For media copies of the report: Publications
Officer, AIHW, tel. 61 2 6244 1032.
Availability: Check the AIHW Publications
Catalogue for availability of the Medical labour force
2005 report or the Nursing and midwifery
labour force 2005 report.