Australia’s O&G Workforce Unsustainable Without Urgent Reform

Monday 14 September 2026

An Australian Government workforce analysis has warned that Australia’s existing shortage of obstetricians and gynaecologists (O&Gs) is expected to worsen significantly by 2040, despite continued growth in the workforce.

The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing released its Obstetrics and Gynaecology Supply and Demand Compendium Report in April, forecasting a widening gap between workforce supply and demand.

In response, the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG, the College) is calling for urgent systemic reform and coordinated national action to ensure the O&G workforce can meet the evolving healthcare needs of women and their families in Australia.

In July, RANZCOG hosted the 2026 Women’s Health Roundtable: Strengthening the O&G Workforce, bringing together key interest groups to examine the challenges facing the specialty and identify practical solutions.

Participants included O&G trainees and specialists, consumers, general practitioner obstetricians (GPOs) and rural generalist obstetricians (RGOs), jurisdictional and national government representatives, midwifery and other sector leaders.

The Roundtable provided an opportunity to build a shared understanding of workforce pressures, identify priorities, develop practical actions, and strengthen collaboration across the health system.

Issues identified during the Roundtable informed several themes and recommendations for action, detailed in a comprehensive Roundtable Report spanning training, workforce retention and wellbeing, multidisciplinary collaboration, innovative models of care, and more.

The resulting Report is now available and will inform RANZCOG’s advocacy on behalf of its members, trainees, and the broader sector.

Read the 2026 Women’s Health Roundtable Report

A workforce under growing pressure

Strengthening the O&G workforce is essential to ensuring women can access safe, high-quality, person-centred care across every stage of their life.

While O&G clinicians remain highly skilled and committed, increasing demand, changing models of care, and projected workforce shortages are placing growing pressure on services. These challenges are particularly acute in rural, regional, and remote communities, where workforce maldistribution continues to affect access to specialist care.

The nature of demand is also changing. Later parenthood, assisted reproductive technologies, chronic disease and multimorbidity, pregnancy complications and birth-related trauma, and greater expectations for choice and continuity of care are contributing to increasingly complex healthcare needs.

Growing awareness of conditions such as persistent pelvic pain and endometriosis also contributes to demand for specialist and multidisciplinary care.

Supporting trainees and the existing workforce

Participants identified challenges across the workforce pipeline, including attracting and retaining trainees, access to procedural experience, uncertainty about future career pathways, and the financial and personal costs of training and relocation.

These challenges can be particularly acute in rural and remote communities, where professional isolation, workforce shortages, and limited training opportunities can affect both clinician experience and service sustainability.

Workforce wellbeing was also recognised as critical to long-term sustainability. Psychologically safe workplaces, effective supervision and mentoring, leadership development, and support during key career transitions are important not only for recruitment, but also for retaining experienced clinicians.

Participants also identified opportunities to make better use of the existing workforce – including GPOs and RGOs – through consistent scope of practice frameworks, greater flexibility, workforce mobility, multidisciplinary collaboration, and innovative models of care.

Reform requires coordinated action

Participants recognised that workforce challenges cannot be addressed in isolation. Fragmented administrative systems, inconsistent governance, and limited data sharing can restrict workforce flexibility and make effective planning more difficult.

The Roundtable also highlighted concerns about the future of established programs that support specialist training and multidisciplinary care – such as FROGS and OGET – with a lack of commitment to ongoing government investment undermining workforce development and access to person-centred care.

While innovative models and examples of best practice exist across Australia, participants agreed that sustained investment and coordinated national action are needed to strengthen workforce capacity, capability, wellbeing, and sustainability.

The challenges facing the O&G workforce are complex and interconnected and felt across the health system. They affect clinicians, women, babies, families, and communities, with implications for equitable access to safe, high-quality women’s healthcare now and into the future.

What reform looks like

The Roundtable identified practical opportunities to support both current and future O&G clinicians. These include improving access to surgical and procedural experience for trainees, exploring an obstetrics-only training pathway, and expanding flexible workforce models in response to local needs. Participants also highlighted the importance of affordable, accessible 24-hour childcare to support workforce participation and retention.

In rural and regional areas, strengthening GPO and RGO positions and establishing a nationally consistent scope of practice framework could help expand access to care. Better data, including national gynaecology and maternity outcomes data and modernised Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) arrangements, was also identified as critical to supporting effective workforce planning and recognising the full range of care women need.

Next steps

RANZCOG will use the Roundtable findings and recommendations to inform its advocacy and engagement with Commonwealth and state and territory governments, healthcare providers, medical colleges, consumer organisations, researchers, industry partners, and the broader health sector.

The College sincerely thanks all participants who contributed their time, knowledge, personal experiences, and expertise to the Roundtable.

RANZCOG particularly acknowledges the then Victorian Minister for Health, the Hon Harriet Shing MP, Ms Natalie Bekis, Dr Martina Mende, and Associate Professor Jared Watts, who provided presentations on government priorities, workforce projections, consumer expectations, and current programs. The expertise and perspectives shared as part of these discussions provide an important foundation for continued collaboration and action.

RANZCOG looks forward to working with partners across the health system to translate the Roundtable’s practical actions and recommendations into meaningful action for the O&G workforce, and the women and families they serve.