The Australian Government has launched a new incentive to encourage young doctors and nurses to go bush.
A doctor or nurse practitioner who chooses to live and work in the most remote parts of Australia can now have their HELP debt wiped thanks to new legislation introduced on 10 November 2022, removing a significant financial burden from graduates struggling to establish their careers.
The Government expects the scheme to attract about 850 doctors and nurse practitioners every year to the places that need them the most, with eligible locations determined by the Modified Monash Model (MM) for classifying remoteness – on a scale of one to seven.
The introduction of the HELP Debt Reduction for Rural Doctors and Nurse Practitioners scheme means that a doctor or nurse practitioner who lives and works in a remote or very remote town (MM 6-7), for a period just half the length of their course, would have their entire HELP debt for that course wiped.
Those who choose to practice in a large, medium, or small rural town (MM 3-5) for a time equal to the entire length of their course would also have their entire HELP debt wiped, and the scheme allows for doctors and nurses who move to an eligible region to cancel half of their debt in exchange for an equivalent period of service.
For nurses, the legislation will also go towards covering a master’s degree in Commonwealth supported study, a full fee-paying place, or a combination of both.
The incentive was launched in a joint announcement by the Minister for Health and Aged Care, Mr Mark Butler, Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care, Ms Emma McBride, and Minister for Education, Mr Jason Clare, and will be backdated to January 2022.
“Rural and remote Australia is experiencing skills shortages in many key professions, including doctors and nurse practitioners,” Minister Clare said.
“Zero HECS debt is a great incentive for young graduates to live and work and build their careers in rural and remote communities.”
Mr Butler said that the Government recognised the challenge of recruiting and retaining primary health care workers in rural and remote communities and believed that the new measures will make country practice a more attractive long-term career option for doctors and nurses.
“The Albanese Government is working to improve health care for people living outside big cities by encouraging more doctors and nurse practitioners to work in rural and remote communities,” Assistant Minister McBride added.
“We are determined to make sure all Australians have access to the care they need, when they need it close to home, and these measures will help us address workforce shortages in our healthcare system.”
The scheme will be supported by secondary legislation in the form of HELP Debtor Guidelines -Health Practitioner, that will outline the eligibility and assessment requirements for being granted a waiver of indexation by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).
A fact sheet already released by the Department of Health (DoH) stipulates that only doctors and nurses who have completed a course of study in medicine at an Australian university will be eligible, and no HELP debt reduction is available for other degrees (or units) completed before, or after, that course.
Importantly, the DoH notes that practitioners still have an obligation to make compulsory repayments towards their outstanding HELP debt while completing the required period of eligible work.
It is only once the scheme’s obligations are achieved that the ATO will be advised to reduce the outstanding HELP debt, with any compulsory repayments that made from 1 January 2022 refunded through the taxation system.