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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 49(5)

Evolution of the health workforce: lessons from the past for the future

Anthony Scott A * and Peter Brooks https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7733-7750 B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Centre for Health Economics, Monash Business School, Monash University, Caulfield East, Vic 3145, Australia.

B Centre for Health Policy, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Vic 3001, Australia. Email: brooksp@unimelb.edu.au

* Correspondence to: Anthony.scott@monash.edu

Australian Health Review 49, AH25107 https://doi.org/10.1071/AH25107
Submitted: 15 July 2025  Accepted: 19 August 2025  Published: 8 September 2025

© 2025 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of AHHA.

Abstract

Despite a doubling of the number of medical graduates almost 25 years ago, shortages and persistent distribution problems remain. Policies to direct graduates to areas and specialties of greatest population need have been too little too late. Rural regions and areas with high need continue to be underserved, while the gulf between general practitioner and specialist numbers widens. Recommended reforms have been slow and fragmented, with limited success in addressing fundamental distribution challenges across geography, specialties and professional types. Current reforms need to move much more quickly and require significant additional investment to ensure that patients do not have to experience the harms of shortages and surpluses for the next 25 years.

Keywords: general practitioners, inequality, shortage, specialist, surplus, workforce distribution.

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