AMA VICDOC Autumn 2024 - Magazine - Page 16
WOMEN MAKE UP 75% OF AUSTRALIA’S HEALTHCARE WORKFORCE.
45%
MEDICAL
DEANS
45%
-
PUBLIC HOSPITAL
BOARD CHAIRS
make up 75% of Australia’s
W omen
healthcare workforce, but just 45%
of medical deans, 45% of public hospital
board chairs, 39% of private hospital
CEOs and 38% of state and federal
chief medical or health officers.
This declining scale of women in
healthcare leadership indicates that
currently, the Australian healthcare
sector is not supporting its workforce
to meet its full potential, and that
despite considerable effort and table
talk, pervasive gender inequity and
barriers to advancement remain in
Australian healthcare.
To work towards overcoming this,
a robust Monash University-led team
set about establishing the Advancing
Women in Healthcare Leadership
(AWHL) national initiative.
The AWHL was first funded by
the NHMRC in 2019 with nine
partners, and has grown to include
21 professional, medical and nursing
colleges, industrial bodies, leading
health services, government and
academic partners. It is based at the
Monash Centre for Health Research
and Implementation (MCHRI),
with Professor Helena Teede as
Chief Investigator.
16
AMA VI C TO RIA
39%
PRIVATE
HOSPITAL CEOS
38%
STATE + FED
CMOs OR HOs
The Federal AMA is proud to be one
of the initiative’s 21 partners, and one
of five lead partners. AMA Victoria
Board Member Dr Desiree Yap AM
and Dr Sarah Whitelaw are Steering
Committee Members, and Sarah also
represents the Federal AMA to AWHL.
“I’m much more aware now of the
evidence base for actual improvement
in both patient care and quality of care,
but also the benefits to organisational
performance associated with that
increase in diversity, particularly at a
leadership level. It's not just morally
right, it's not just going to benefit
people like me who have similar
experiences or similar challenges
as they progress through their career;
it’s important for our patients, our
facilities and our communities, in terms
of organisational performance and the
quality of healthcare being delivered,”
says Sarah.
Together in co-design with partners,
AWHL focuses on generating a
knowledge base and delivering multifaceted organisational and individual
level interventions to measurably
improve career progression for women
in healthcare, to deliver gender equity,
and to improve health outcomes.
