workforce
don’t seem uncommon. We know from a body of research that
that length of commute – particularly if it’s in a motor car that
the person’s driving themselves – is pretty stressful and probably
not great for their own health, but also has some pretty negative
impacts on perhaps their social and family life because they’re
sometimes leaving home in the dark, and they’re coming back
when small children might be in bed.
In terms of promoting a healthy work-life balance, those
very long commutes aren’t very positive for nurses and other
key workers.
What impact could losing key workers from inner city areas
have on the people who remain in those communities.
There are a few issues. One is they become more boring
communities if you’ve only got people on high incomes. One
of the great attributes of any active city is the mix of people that
might live in your city, and if we just surrender those inner city
areas so they become an enclave for the rich, life in those areas
is probably going to be much more boring.
The other issue obviously in terms of how the whole Sydney
community would work is if people are experiencing long
commutes, the chances of them participating in the workforce
might decrease.
We know on a world scale that there’s a shortage of nurses
across the world. Putting factors like long commutes into the mix
Stay up to
date with the
2018 AMH
Book or
Online
The Australian Medicines Handbook
offers clear, concise, up-to-date and
clinically relevant information.
Designed to find information quickly.
Recommendations incorporate the
latest research and best practice advice.
Available now in print or online.
Go to www.amh.net.au
of people considering a career in something like nursing might
put some pressure on the ability to staff many of Sydney’s large
hospitals in the longer term. That’s an issue that I think’s also
important. You want to make sure that it’s as easy as possible for
people to have a good, active and healthy life and participate in
working in the nursing industry.
What should policymakers do to improve the housing
opportunities for key workers to keep them in the inner city?
In our report we’ve identified what we think are five pretty
straightforward options.
One of them is something we’re calling ‘inclusionary planning’,
and this is a strategy used in many other large cities across the
world like Sydney.
With the large developments, you mandate that a certain
proportion, and it could be 10–20 per cent, of dwellings are
accessible for people on lower incomes. You’re using the
development process as a way of ensuring some mix in price
outcomes for those new developments.
That’s a strategy used in many world cities like New York
and London. We’ve been doing a little bit of that in Sydney to
date, but only in a few parts of the city and on quite a small
scale. We think that should just become business as usual for
development in Sydney to ensure people like key workers have
better access to the parts of the city where they work. ■
Essential
information
on conditions
affecting the
elderly.
The AMH Aged Care Companion is a
trusted, practical reference for nurses and
health professionals who work with older
people. It contains the latest evidence-
based information on the management of
more than 70 conditions common in older
people. Available now in print or online.
Go to www.amh.net.au
agedcareinsite.com.au 31