Australian health reforms: enhancing interprofessional practice and competency within the health workforce

Underpinned by increasing healthcare complexity and ongoing pressures to control the cost of healthcare, governments are increasingly calling for improved health service delivery models. A public policy paradigm of partnership-based, collaborative interprofessional working is central to revised models of health service delivery. Collaborative activity and service re-design do not occur by chance. They are complex and multi-faceted. Increasingly, calls for collaborative style health service re-design activities are being translated to a need to agree on a clear set of interprofessional competencies and develop a culture of interprofessional practice (IPP) across the sector. This report summarizes the requirements for developing a culture of interprofessional practice within the context of Australian healthcare reforms. It also highlights the role of well-developed interprofessional competency frameworks to support envisaged changes in practice. The report expands the discussion in this area by referring to the work of two other nations with prior developments in interprofessional workplace development and reform.