Rural health in the sunshine state is on the up, according to the latest Health Workforce Queensland annual report.
As 2025 wraps up, Queensland has begun looking to 2026 and how it can improve its health workforce.
Non-profit rural workforce agency Health Workforce Queensland has released its annual report for the year, which is acting as a temperature check for the state’s health workforce.
“We continue to work hard and collaboratively to increase the impact of our services and program supports to our health workforce in remote, rural, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities,” Health Workforce Queensland CEO Chris Mitchell said.
“This report highlights the activities and strategies that we have used to directly and indirectly support remote and rural communities and their health workforce.
“It is especially pleasing to report that we exceeded our target for the year by directly recruiting 60 General Practitioners, and 29 Allied Health Professionals and Nurses/Midwives.”
The general practice workforce also saw some shifts in makeup this past year, with internationally trained doctors now forming the majority of GPs working in remote and rural Queensland.
This has been true for most states, with the shift in Queensland showing promise for how other states can increase their IMG workforce.
“The report says that it’s the first time since 2015 where the number of international doctors outstripped that of locally trained doctors in Queensland. I think nationally, that’s been true for a long time,” RACGP rural chair Associate Professor Michael Clements told The Medical Republic.
“My understanding of the data from last year is that for every one Australian trained doctor that became registered for the first time, there was an international Doctor registered for the first time.
“We’ve got a one for one in terms of growing our own and importing and we know that the bulk of our rural care is being provided for by these international graduates.
“This is another document that reinforces that we should make sure that, given the fact that these IMGs are delivering the bulk of care, we need to make sure that a lot of reform, a lot of advocacy, a lot of our funding actually goes into supporting these groups.”
Allocation of GPs to rural and remote areas has also seen a favourable shift with a reported increase in both GPs and nurses working across Modified Monash levels 2 to 7 in Queensland.
Private general practices decreased by 5.3% for 2025, whilst the overall number of GPs grew by 8% in the last five years.
However, this rate of growth has not been deemed optimal given that the workforce gap rating has increased by 16%, meaning that supply is not meeting the increasing demand.
The report also marked the first year of the rural body’s Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan.
“To improve health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities we must work beside, hear and understand the wisdom of First Nations peoples,” Health Workforce Queensland chair Dr Ross Maxwell said.
“My vision for the agency on its reconciliation journey is to develop workforce solutions where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are at the centre.”
A continuation of this plan was registered in November.
