More Health Workers for the Regions

The Nationals will invest $40 million over four years in a Victorian Rural Health Workforce Incentive Scheme, offering doctors, nurses, midwives and allied health professionals up to $10,000 plus relocation, accommodation and professional development support to take up hard-to-fill regional jobs. A hospital is only as good as its people, and too many regional hospitals can’t fill the roles they have. Based on a successful NSW program, the scheme will target the communities with the most severe shortages.

Cheaper, Easier Access to a GP

The Nationals will abolish Labor’s GP tax so practices can bulk-bill more patients and keep fees lower for all Victorians. The tax is pushing up costs for patients and putting pressure on country practices that are already hard to keep open. We’ll also provide free meningococcal B vaccines for children and teenagers, so families don’t have to pay to protect their kids from a deadly disease.

Better Hospitals Closer to Home

Where you live shouldn’t decide the quality of care you get, or how far you have to travel for it. The Nationals will invest in regional hospitals across the state, from a new emergency department and ICU upgrade at Hamilton Base Hospital and stage one of a new Bairnsdale Hospital, to an expanded emergency department, new acute ward and health worker accommodation at Mildura Base Hospital. We’ll also deliver stage two of the Goulburn Valley Health Integrated Cancer Centre, giving patients across the region better access to cancer treatment closer to home.