Urgent action is needed to cut the massive gap between wages paid to doctors working in indigenous communities and other rural doctors, an indigenous health organisation says.
Some doctors working in indigenous communities are being paid up to $100,000 less than other medical practitioners in rural areas, the Aboriginal Health Council of Western Australia (AHCWA) said.
The AHCWA said the imbalance made it harder to attract doctors to work in indigenous health services.
The issue should have been addressed at today's Council of Australian Governments meeting in Perth, the AHCWA said.
Dr Tim Leahy, a medical policy officer with AHCWA, said the imbalance in wages had a major impact on the ability to attract doctors to work in indigenous health.
"There's 40 doctors in the Aboriginal health services, and well I suppose the Aboriginal health services are wondering how they're going to keep those doctors," he told ABC Radio today.
"We're already very much reliant on overseas-trained doctors who make up 60 per cent of the total of about 40 doctors in Aboriginal health services."
But Dr Leahy said the problem was about to get worse, with a new national assessment process set to restrict the supply of overseas-trained doctors.
"We've already got very high turnover of doctors in our Aboriginal health services. It's very good burnout territory," he said.
"It just doesn't look as attractive to work in Aboriginal health as it does to work in other parts of the health system."
Dr Leahy said the problem was not exclusive to Western Australia, but was an issue across the country.
"I suppose in places like Queensland, and now WA, we're feeling it first because doctors in other parts of the health system are getting increases in salary.
"And those parts of the system that aren't able to increase salaries, such as the Aboriginal health services, are feeling the competitive pressures."
The comments come as Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and state and territory leaders today agreed to hold a COAG meeting dedicated to "closing the gap" between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians.
"The objective, an integrated national strategy to do this, harnessing the different experiences of the states and territories in practical areas of reform that have worked," Mr Rudd said.
