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Public Health Workforce Development

Current Issues

A two-stage project was commenced in 2001 to investigate a framework for public health workforce planning. The project is overseen by the Workforce Development Steering Group.

The first stage of the project involved review of workforce planning approaches; assessment of their relevance to public health workforce planning; and development of a planning model appropriate to the public health workforce. The results of this work are reported in the discussion paper Planning framework for the Public Health workforce (June 2002). The suggested model is based on describing a set of competencies required to achieve the goals and/or implement action for an organisation, unit or strategy, which serve as a ‘common unit of analysis’.

The second stage of the project has commenced and is concerned with testing the proposed model with a view to the development of a generic assessment tool for public health workforce planning. The model is being tested initially in the public health division of a regional area health service in NSW. When completed, the assessment tool will be available for broader application and adaptation by jurisdictions.

The timeframe and the methodology of the workforce modelling project is suited to detailed analysis of public health workforce capacity around particular strategies or populations. Information is also required, however, about any major current shortages in public health workforce, as evidenced, for example, by recruitment difficulties. Consequently, the Steering Group is currently developing a methodology for a proposed workforce scan to assess priority national public health workforce shortages and skills.

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