This year, Australia's leading GP training college has successfully placed 177 GPs in training in rural communities that had not had a registrar in years.
Two communities, Mallacoota in Victoria and Coonabarabran in NSW, had not had a general practice registrar since 2016. The uptake was driven by RACGP incentives of up to $45,000, which help cover relocation and training costs.
Most registrars who took a six-month incentivised placement at the start of 2024 chose to continue training in the same community – 64.6%.
RACGP President Dr Nicole Higgins said it shows incentives get more GPs into rural communities which need support.
"Our incentives have helped place 177 registrars in communities that need GPs, and 65% of the registrars who joined at the start of the year chose to stay there beyond their initial six-month placement," she said.
"That's a promising result for the future general practice workforce in these areas. Relocation costs can be a big barrier for registrars, especially if you're bringing a partner and children. Our incentives help to cover costs like accommodation, childcare, and travel, and they're bringing immediate benefits to communities.
"The RACGP trains 90% of Australia's GPs, so we know what works to get GPs into communities. The research shows GPs who train in a rural community are far more likely to work there – so this is growing our future rural GP workforce.
"This backs up what we have told governments – funding gets results. There was a big increase in the number of GPs training in Victoria after their government offered an incentive of up to $40,000. We are successfully getting more GPs training in rural communities, but there is far more we could do with appropriate government support.
"If the Federal Government is serious about getting GPs into communities, they should ensure GPs in training receive equal pay to their colleagues in other specialisations. The smart way to do this is through direct incentive and parental leave payments to registrars. This could be done efficiently and almost immediately through existing systems.
"A doctor who starts their specialist GP training loses parental leave and other entitlements they've accrued working in hospitals, and may even have lower starting remuneration. This doesn't happen in hospital-based specialisations.
"Frankly, it's ridiculous our registrars are expected to take a pay cut when so many communities need more GPs."
In the second half of 2024, 19.7% of the College's 826 GP training catchments are incentivised, including around a quarter of those in Queensland, Western Australia, and Tasmania, and nearly half in the Northern Territory.
Among the incentivised placements was Mossman, north of Port Douglas in Queensland, where registrars Dr Blake Kelly and Dr Annaleice Rose moved for their placements in 2024. The couple are now balancing their GP training at Mossman Medical Centre and raising their young son, Barney.
He says ensuring medical students and junior doctors experience general practice will help boost the rural GP workforce.
"I didn't feel the information, experience, and opportunities general practice has to offer were as readily available in my junior years of training compared to hospital roles," Dr Kelly said.
"General practice can be very rewarding, treating the whole person over time and not just one of their issues. Supporting small community general practice will help to keep patients out of hospitals and emergency waiting rooms."
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