title: Health workforce policy and industrial relations in Australia: ministerial insights into challenges and opportunities for reform.
abstract: Since the Productivity Commission released its research report Australia's Health Workforce in 2005, there has been a significant increase in government funding and policy capacity aimed at health workforce reform and innovation in Australia. This research paper presents the results of semistructured interviews with three key stakeholders in health policy formation in Australia: (1) The Honourable Lindsay Tanner, former Federal Minister for Finance and therefore 100% shareholder of Medibank Private on behalf of the Commonwealth; (2) The Honourable Daniel Andrews, former Victorian Minister for Health and current Victorian Opposition Leader; and (3) The Honourable Jim McGinty, former Minister for Health and Attorney General of Western Australia and current inaugural Chair of Health Workforce Australia. The paper examines key issues they identified in relation to health workforce policy in Australia, particularly where it intersects with industrial relations, and conducts a comparative analysis between their responses and theoretical methodologies of policy formation as a means of informing a reform process.
authors.forename: Silvana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sgrò
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia; D018166:Health Care Reform; D006291:Health Policy; D006280:Health Workforce; D006801:Humans; D011050:Policy Making