Factors Associated With the Retention of Allied Health Professionals in Regional and Rural Public Health Services in...

To examine patterns of retention among the allied health workforce in rural and regional Victoria and identify demographic, professional and service-level factors associated with workforce exit.

De-identified administrative human resources data were extracted from participating public and community health services. Employment records included profession, age at commencement, employment dates and service characteristics. Individuals were followed from first recorded employment until workforce exit or censoring at 31 December 2024. Retention was analysed using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to estimate adjusted hazard ratios for workforce exit.

Retrospective cohort study using multi-site administrative employment data, analysed with Kaplan-Meier survival curves and Cox proportional hazards regression.

Public health and community health services across the Loddon Mallee region of Victoria, Australia.

A total of 1815 allied health professionals and assistants were employed between 2015 and 2022.

Time to workforce exit, annual turnover, stability rates, survival probabilities and time points to 25% and 45% attrition.

One in four staff left within 2 years of employment, and fewer than 55% remained after approximately 4.5 years. Turnover risk was similar across hospital types and sub-regions, indicating that geography exerted only modest influence. Age and profession were the strongest predictors of retention: staff aged under 25 had the highest exit risk, while those aged 25-45 were significantly more likely to remain. Staff aged 55-65 had greater risk of exit, reflecting late-career transitions. Dietitians showed the lowest retention, whereas psychologists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, speech pathologists and exercise physiologists had higher survival probabilities.

Retention varied by age and profession but not by service type or region. Early attrition within the first 2 years is a significant workforce challenge. Profession-specific career pathways, early-career supports and late-career succession planning are needed, alongside stronger system-level monitoring of allied health workforce stability.