Australian Specialist Workforce Shortage Areas

District of Workforce Shortage classifications for eight medical specialties in Australia, including Anaesthetics and Psychiatry. The dataset is produced by the Department of Health's Rural Distribution Section using population and Medicare billing data to calculate specialist-to-population ratios. The provided file reflects the annual update as of November 2023.

Use Cases

• Mapping DWS status for Psychiatry across SA3 geographical regions to visualize service gaps.
• Analyzing the correlation between remoteness areas (ASGS-RA 3-5) and automatic DWS classification for specialties like General Surgery.
• Calculating specialist-to-population ratios for Cardiology using underlying Medicare billing and population data.
• Tracking changes in DWS classification for Diagnostic Radiology over time to assess policy impact.

Strengths

• Covers eight defined medical specialties subject to distribution.
• Uses SA3 geographical regions for granular spatial analysis.
• Incorporates Medicare billing and population data for ratio calculations.
• Areas classified as ASGS-RA 3-5 are automatically designated DWS.

Limitations

• Specific row count, column names, and sample size are unknown.
• The dataset is updated annually, so the November 2023 snapshot may not reflect current status.
• Limited to eight non-GP specialist categories, excluding other healthcare professions.

Provenance

Source

Department of Health and Aged Care, Rural Distribution Section.

Collection Method

Calculated using population data and Medicare billing data to determine specialist-to-population ratios.

Time Range

Snapshot as of November 2023.

Freshness

Annual updates; snapshot from November 2023.

Geography

Australia, at the SA3 geographical region level.