RESPONSE TO PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION’S POSITION PAPER “AUSTRALIA’S HEALTH WORKFORCE”

The Productivity Commission (hereafter PC) is to be congratulated on making a determined effort to consider how future health workforce needs may be assessed, and how these needs may be optimally met. The Position Paper (hereafter PP) contains some proposals that the Australian Psychological Society (APS) would support. But there are also some proposals that we could not support, and hope that they will not be included in the Report that the PC will craft following this stakeholder commentary phase. With regard to broader issues, this paper initially analyses what it sees as the limited and inappropriate “blueprint ” approach and also rejects the implicit support for de-professionalisation conveyed in the PP. Supported proposals 1 Medicare broadened to include appropriate Allied Health services. This needs to consider both MBS items for services and specific PBS items for specific professions and services. This proposal is supported not just because of its obvious advantages to practising health psychologists, but primarily because it serves to meet three well-established and crucial outcome indicators of health services provision. These are: • fairer access of the community to appropriate services