Almost two in five consider leaving rural health workforce

Almost two in five rural Victorian health professionals considered leaving the rural workforce in the 12 months before a 2024 census.

Gippsland Primary Health Network drew attention to the figure recently on Monday, August 24 when it released its ‘Improving Health Workforce Wellbeing’ paper.

The paper is dated June 2026, and it looks at how the health of workers affects staff numbers and patient care across Gippsland.

Workload was what stood at the top of the concerns, followed by burnout.

Poor work-life balance also pushed some workers towards leaving rural practice, and mental health concerns added to the pressure.

Pay caused problems too, with some workers seeing few chances to move forward in their careers, while others worried their skills would slip over time.

Recruitment tells a similar story.

The paper ranked suitable accommodation as the leading rural recruitment barrier at 67 per cent.

51 per cent said that childcare was hard to find.

Health care and social assistance was Gippsland’s largest employment sector in November 2025, accounting for 19.5 per cent of the workforce.

That was up from 16.4 per cent one year earlier.

In December 2025, Gippsland recorded 114 online job advertisements for registered nurses and 66 for aged and disability carers.

Another 61 advertised for general practitioners and resident medical officers.

Gippsland PHN heard the same concerns while speaking with health workers and services during 2024 and 2025.

Clinics struggled to find GPs, and nurses were also difficult to recruit, along with allied health workers such as physiotherapists and speech pathologists.

But filling vacancies was only part of the problem, as existing workers reported heavy workloads, especially in rural and regional communities.

Gippsland PHN chief executive Amanda Proposch said workers should not carry the burden alone.

“When health care workers are supported, patients, services and communities benefit,” Ms Proposch said.

“Improving workforce wellbeing is about creating the workplace and system conditions health care workers need to do their best work.”

The paper outlined ways in which employers could ease the pressure.

Cutting needless paperwork was one option, while stronger team-based care would allow health professionals to share the workload.

Better pay also mattered. So did flexible working arrangements.

The paper raised free workplace counselling as another option. Mentoring would give staff extra support, and clearer career paths would help workers develop their skills.

Technology was also highlighted, with electronic medical records potentially reducing repeated work, and AI scribes offering a helping hand.

But the paper said health services would need clear privacy rules before using those tools.

Gippsland PHN supports scholarships and training programs across the region. It has also added staff wellbeing checks to its agreements with health providers.