Ms Mary Doran:

I thank the Senator. There has been a quite substantial increase in staffing and that contributes considerably to retaining our staff. Within overall disabilities the retention rate is still maintained, which demonstrates the commitment of staff to working in those areas. There is a turnover rate of approximately 8.2% within overall disabilities. That is rather in line with the rest of health and points to the commitment of those staff working in disabilities.

On retention, I have commenced work to look at retention strategies. We know from international research the main things that retain people are career progression, team support and work-life balance. They are the main elements, rather than the financial incentives. We are working on particular recruitment strategies on that and retention.