NSWMSC concerned Budget fails to address growing junior doctor workforce crisis, worsening placement poverty, and opportunities to support the future medical workforce
The New South Wales Medical Students’ Council (NSWMSC) is concerned the 2026/27 NSW Budget fails to meaningfully address the pressures facing medical students, junior doctors, and the future NSW medical workforce.
While the Budget includes broad health workforce investment, which is welcomed by the NSWMSC, it does not provide targeted support for medical students experiencing placement poverty, does not fund the expansion of Assistant in Medicine (AiM) roles, and does not meaningfully respond to growing concerns about junior doctor retention, uncompetitive pay, or unsafe working conditions.
HETI data shows that NSW had more intern positions available for the 2026 clinical year, but recruited fewer interns than the year before. For the 2026 clinical year, NSW had 1,200 available intern positions, up from 1,175 in 2025. Despite this, only 1,075 positions were filled in 2026, compared with 1,095 in 2025.
Even if the increase in available positions is not accounted for, NSW still recruited 20 fewer interns than last year. This represents a 1.8% decline in filled intern positions at a time when the health system cannot afford to go backwards.
At the close of the late vacancy process, NSW had 125 intern vacancies remaining for the 2026 clinical year, compared with 80 in 2025. This represents a 56% increase in unfilled intern vacancies in just one year, with 10.4% of all available intern positions across NSW remaining vacant.
These statewide trends are also being reflected in regional recruitment. At one regional NSW hospital, recruitment through the Rural Preferential Recruitment (RPR) pathway and Expression of Interest (EOI) process fell by 50% in 2026 compared with 2025.
For regional communities already facing persistent workforce shortages, a decline of this magnitude is concerning. Rural hospitals rely heavily on attracting and retaining junior doctors, and reductions in recruitment risk placing further pressure on existing staff while limiting future workforce growth in areas that can least afford it.
“This is not an abstract workforce issue. These are missing doctors in hospitals, missing support on wards, and extra pressure placed on junior doctors who are already stretched thin,” NSWMSC Chair Jacques Fletcher-Cauchi said.
The Budget also fails to address one of the earliest threats to the future medical workforce: placement poverty.
NSWMSC survey data found that 77.6% of respondents reported experiencing placement poverty during their medical degree, while 62.7% reported they had considered delaying or leaving medical school due to the financial pressures associated with training.
Medical students are increasingly required to relocate for clinical placements, travel significant distances, pay for accommodation, parking and fuel, and spend extended periods away from paid employment. Despite these challenges, the Budget contains no targeted support measures for medical students undertaking mandatory clinical placements.
One practical solution absent from the Budget is funding for Assistant in Medicine (AiM) roles. AiM positions provide paid clinical employment for senior medical students, allowing them to contribute to patient care while gaining valuable experience and easing financial pressures associated with training.
NSWMSC survey data found that 92.8% of respondents would be interested in undertaking an AiM role if available during their final year, while 88.8% reported that an AiM position would help alleviate the financial pressures associated with completing medical school.
AiM positions represent a rare opportunity to simultaneously support workforce capacity, improve student preparedness for internship, and whilst not a complete solution, does reduce the financial burden experienced by medical students as shown currently in the HNELHD. Despite these benefits, the Budget contains no dedicated funding to support their expansion across all other NSW Local Health Districts.
The Budget is also silent on the core issues driving medical students’ concern about entering the NSW workforce: retention, pay, and safe working conditions.
NSW junior doctors remain among the lowest paid in Australia, working in one of the most pressured public hospital systems in the country, yet the Budget does not meaningfully address junior doctor retention, improving working conditions, or ensuring NSW remains competitive with other states and territories.
Recent NSWMSC survey data found that only 58% of respondents intended to complete their internship or residency in NSW, while 42% were either unsure or planning to move interstate.
“Medical students are not blind to the system they are expected to enter. They see JMOs working excessive hours, carrying unsafe workloads, and feeling undervalued in a system that depends on them. Students are actively making decisions about their future based on what they see in hospitals,” NSWMSC Vice-ChairJosh Gaul said.
NSW is training future doctors, but it is failing to create the conditions that make them want to stay. This is not simply a workforce shortage issue; it is a workforce retention issue. The Government cannot continue to focus solely on training more doctors while failing to address the reasons they are choosing not to stay.
The NSWMSC welcomes investment in health infrastructure and workforce growth, but believes future budgets must include targeted measures that support the medical students and junior doctors who will ultimately staff the system.
The NSWMSC is calling for urgent action on the following:
- Improved JMO pay and working conditions
- Targeted medical student placement poverty support
- Funded Assistant in Medicine roles across NSW Local Health Districts
- Consistent parking, travel and accommodation support during clinical placements
- Stronger retention strategies for NSW-trained graduates
- Expansion of specialty training positions and clearer training pathways
If NSW wants medical students to stay, it must give them a reason to stay. Right now, too many students are looking at the system in front of them and deciding their future may be somewhere else.
Media Contact
Jacques Fletcher-Cauchi, Chair
Email: chair@nswmsc.org.au
Josh Gual, Vice-Chair
Email: vicechair@nswmsc.org.au