Summary

Northern Australia’s population live in cities, towns and communities supporting pastoral, farming, mining, and tourism industries. A common need is the delivery of appropriate health services by professional staff. One persistent issue fundamental to achieving better access is addressing the shortage and excessive turnover of health staff. For example, turnover of 148% per annum has been quantified in the remote nursing workforce (Zhao, 2019).

Optimising staff retention is facilitated by multiple strategies. However, there is a gap in our knowledge about what support ‘bundle’ is most effective in different circumstances.
This project will address this gap through a partnership across the Northern Territory, Western Australia and Queensland which will develop an evidence-base to inform how best to bundle retention interventions. Application of this knowledge will in-turn optimise staff retention and be shared through targeted policy briefs and targeted workshops for Queensland Health and Western Australia Health. Additionally, this research will compare the costs and benefits of proven retention incentives with the known high costs of frequently recruiting replacement health workers. Additional workforce retention questions will include whether targeted and systematically delivered training and support in continuous quality improvement and evaluation skills boost staff morale, job satisfaction, and concurrently promote applied health services research for clinicians including allied health professionals and nurses.

News articles: ‘Getting real’ in remote health research – Partyline, 17 December 2025

Journal articles: ‘Remote health: What are the problems and what can we do about them? Insights from Australia’ 30 May 2025

Expected outcomes

Optimising staff retention is facilitated by multiple strategies. However, there is a gap in our knowledge about what support ‘bundle’ is most effective in different circumstances. This project will address this gap by developing an evidence-base to inform how best to bundle retention interventions. Application of this knowledge will in-turn optimise staff retention and be shared through targeted policy briefs and targeted workshops Northern Territory, Queensland, and Western Australia Health.

Additional workforce retention questions will include whether targeted and systematically delivered training and support in continuous quality improvement and evaluation related skills boost staff morale, job satisfaction, and concurrently promote applied health services research for clinicians including allied health professionals and nurses.

Complementary activities, supported through partner contributions, will include a mentorship program for female health professionals.

Specific research questions include:

1. What components of retention intervention ‘bundles’ for remote health service staff are theorised to improve retention for whom in what circumstances?
2. What are the mechanisms by which different components of retention intervention ‘bundles’ are theorised to improve retention?
3. What should the key components (attributes) be of retention intervention ‘bundles’ for remote health service staff, and how might these vary by group characteristics (eg. gender, Aboriginal status, profession)
4. What weightings (level) should be applied to the key components of retention intervention ‘bundles’ and how might these vary by group characteristics (eg. gender, Aboriginal status, profession)
5. What is the impact of retention intervention ‘bundles’ for remote health service staff on staff morale, job satisfaction and retention?
6. What is the feasibility of sustaining, and benefit of delivering, a mentorship program for female health professionals?