Appendix 2: Action plan 2024–2026

The Victorian health workforce strategy: action plan outlines how we will deliver on the Victorian Government's ambition to create a modern, sustainable and engaged healthcare workforce.

It sets out the actions we are taking in the first phase of implementation.

Implementation will be supported by an annual review and the development of a refreshed action plan every 2 years.

This will ensure we are consistently evaluating progress and outcomes and identifying and planning for emerging priorities.

Increase supply of priority roles

- Collaborate with the Commonwealth on modernisation of health programs and funding models.
- Increase inclusion and diversity of under-represented groups.
- Establish a suite of career planning supports for prospective students and jobseekers.
- Partner across government, service providers, education providers and accreditation and regulatory bodies to develop new and innovative approaches to sustainable workforce supply.
- Develop targeted approaches to enable workers in priority roles to operate at the top of their scope, including alterative workforce models and supplementary roles.
- Work with the tertiary sector to scope potential for recognition of prior learning that will enable reskilling and co-qualification.
- Investigate opportunities to better support re-entry into critical roles.
- Invest in entry-level roles and pathways into health careers.

Strengthen rural and regional workforces

- Identify, share and expand successful models of local training and employment pathways.
- Enhance availability of rural and regional clinical placements and rotations.
- Improve availability of continuing professional development training.
- Improve capacity and capability to deliver specialised and advanced clinical training.
- Partner across government to explore opportunities to improve accommodation availability.
- Review and refresh existing recruitment and retention incentive programs.
- Promote best practice community connection and integration programs for healthcare workers new to rural and regional areas.
- Partner with the sector to pilot employment models that increase serviceability to rural and regional locations, such as single employer hub and spoke.
- Review opportunities to increase flexibility in funding models to improve service delivery and employment arrangements.

Improve employee experience

- Provide resources and training to prevent and reduce incidents of occupational violence and aggression.
- Establish a health leadership framework, self-assessment tool and development pathways.
- Co-design an approach to refreshing rest and recovery spaces.
- Identify opportunities to improve flexibility and other benefits through enterprise agreement negotiations.
- Embed consistent approaches to role redesign to reduce workload impact.
- Implement annual review of public health workforce data and develop associated plans for continuous improvement of the health sector’s employee value propositions.

Build future roles and capabilities

- Develop a consistent and scalable process to formalise new and expanded roles.
- Establish career pathways and progression models for new and expanded roles.
- Work with education providers to develop new or updated qualifications and pathways to new and expanded roles.
- Develop baseline scope of practice, qualification and credentialling requirements for each innovative role.
- Establish innovative employment models that maximise the development and transferability of skills across multiple settings and professions.
- Partner with Ahpra and professional bodies to expand skills and scopes of practice through interjurisdictional advocacy.

Leverage digital, data and technology solutions

- Identify and share leading practice use of innovative technologies in the health sector.
- Complete a proof of concept for a comprehensive workforce data solution.
- Advance common principles for data capture, sharing, integration and analytics of health workforce data.
- Utilise public sector standards to improve quality and timeliness of health sector workforce data.