October 2023

Welcome to the latest edition of the 2023 On the Horizon newsletter from the Future Workforce Unit (FWU). On the Horizon provides a snapshot of the key trends and developments that have the potential to shape and impact our future workforce, workplace and ways of working.

On the Horizon is part of the Focus on the Future Workforce Initiative, which aims to support the health system to ensure a resilient and digitally enabled workforce that can adapt to the changes in the system caused by technology and other disruptions. By focusing on not just the now, but also the future, NSW Health can ensure that we meet the needs of the community now and into the future.

Please note that the opinions shared in On the Horizon are those of the respective authors, and may not reflect the views of FWU or NSW Health.

Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this edition may contain images of people who have passed away.

October has been another month of great connections for the Future Workforce Unit as we continue to have conversations about NSW Health's future of work across the system. Earlier this month, we attended the NSW Health Workforce Forum where we explored the future of people and culture, hearing presentations from NSW Health staff and global thought leaders that ranged from creative approaches to mentoring conversations, the rules of belonging for cultural transformation, tech-enabled training innovation and digital workers. Congratulations to WPTD's Employee Experience and Talent Development Unit for hosting such an engaging and successful Workforce Forum.

FWU also had the opportunity to support and attend the inaugural Social Determinants of Health Forum run by HETI. The forum was established to increase awareness and growing knowledge of the Social Determinants of Health with the aim of building holistic and responsive health professionals who understand and act on ways that advance communities and individuals toward greater health equity.

Last week, our team also attended the Central Coast Innovation Meet Up: Youth Inclusion, for professionals from the youth industries to come together, foster collaboration, and collectively find innovative solutions to shape futures. We spoke with other organisations working with the youth on the Central Coast the on the topics of innovation, the future of health and the importance of youth engagement.

Our team had many insightful conversations at the Innovation Meet Up, including hearing from youth advocates on what is on the minds of young people when they think about the future of health (in particular mental health), how we can improve health engagement with youth and how organisations are working with schools to support students finding career pathways into health. 

In this month's edition of On the Horizon, we explore trends impacting the future workforce including generative AI, housing affordability and social isolation and loneliness. I encourage you to use the questions included to prompt further conversations with your peers and networks to explore what these trends could mean for your future context.

- Tamara Lee 

Director, Future Workforce

Generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) is a subset of AI algorithms that can identify patterns and structures in existing data to generate new, original content, including text, images, video, audio, and synthetic data. Although Gen AI is still in the early stages, the potential applications for businesses are significant and wide-ranging.

The Future of Generative AI Foresight Brief from Policy Horizons Canada explains that Gen AI is a transformative technology that could unleash scientific innovation, raise productivity, improve accessibility, reshape education, and change the way people find information online. According to the Foresight Brief, Generative AI is expected to automate or significantly enhance creative and language-based jobs, while it's more likely to augment technical and knowledge-based roles in the next five years.

While Gen AI holds great promise for the future of work, there are a number of important considerations and challenges to address to ensure responsible implementation, including workforce adaptation and upskilling, data privacy and security, ethical concerns surrounding data bias and misinformation, and evolving regulations.

Read more on this trend:

What new skills and capabilities might we develop to support our workforce to adapt to the global disruptions of Gen AI?

How could we leverage Gen AI to develop new solutions to existing workforce challenges?

Many countries around the world are experiencing a crisis in the affordability and accessibility of secure and appropriate housing, according to the Housing Affordability in Australia Report from Per Capita. It reports that since the 1990s, Australian house prices have risen from 2.5 times annual household income, to over six times today. Similarly, private rentals are becoming increasingly unaffordable and homelessness rates are on the rise.

A recent report published by Committee for Sydney points to growing evidence that suggests that the immediate impacts of chronically unaffordable housing have knock-on effects on a city’s wider economic performance. The authors argue that a fundamental purpose of cities is to match people to jobs. However, chronically unaffordable housing reduces the ease and efficiency with which cities can enable this matching, which leads to impacts on talent, innovation and productivity in the labour market, including:

It should be recognised that homelessness is a multifaceted experience that can be caused by a myriad of personal, social and structural determinants, and has direct impacts on health outcomes. Housing affordability is one structural factor that can contribute to homelessness.

Read more on this trend:

How might chronic housing unaffordability impact the skills, demographics, supply and distribution of workforce into the future?

How might we think differently about recruitment and ways of working to address some of the workforce challenges related to housing unaffordability?

Loneliness among Australians was already a concerning issue prior to the pandemic, described as both an ‘epidemic’ and as one of the most pressing public health concerns in Australia. In a recent study, Ending Loneliness Together found that almost 1 in 3 Australians feel lonely and 1 in 6 Australians are experiencing severe loneliness. The report also highlights that loneliness not only leads to increased risk of illness and increased burden on our health services, but also reduced workplace productivity.

Australia is not alone, with many countries grappling with rising loneliness trends, the impacts of remote work, and potential changes in social connection in the workplace.

Read more on this trend:

What role could the future health workforce have in addressing and preventing loneliness and its associated health impacts?

How might we find new ways to maintain connection in our workplaces and minimise rates of loneliness in staff?

Future Health is a podcast from NSW Health about he future ways we will work, the work we will do and the impact of technology and scientific innovation on the future of healthcare. This season, Dr Louise Messara is joined by a fantastic line-up of guests to discuss the future of work in healthcare, exploring topics that range from livesaving cars, robot lawyers and diagnostic t-shirts.

This month, we're putting the spotlight on our conversation with clinical psychologist Dr Charlotte Keating, where we explore the role of psychology chatbots in the health system today. 

Listen to our conversation with Dr Charlotte Keating here.

Don't forget to subscribe to the Future Health podcast so you don't miss a thing:

This month, FWU has been listening to the InnovationAus Podcast. In each episode, James Riley and the InnovationAus team talk to corporate, academic and political leaders about what’s driving the transformation of Australia’s economy toward a 21st Century mindset.

InnovationAus is an independent publication that reports on government policy as it affects technology-based innovation across the nation’s growth industries. From mining and agriculture to financial services, MedTech, cyber security and advanced manufacturing.

The journalism focuses on the opportunities that align with Australia’s strategic priorities and connects government, institutional researchers, investors, entrepreneurs and the mainstream business community.

The InnovationAus Podcast is available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. 

While every effort is taken to validate the currency and accuracy of the content presented in the newsletter, NSW Health does not make any representations and  warranties with respect to the accuracy and completeness of the information contained herein. The content is represented as information only and readers should undertake their own research and enquires with respect to the specific details and information contained in this newsletter.

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