The long-awaited program will provide $30,000 payments to first-semester GPs.
It has taken several years of lobbying from the likes of General Practice Registrars Australia, the AMA and the colleges, but come February, GP registrars will finally have access to paid parental and study leave.
New registrars will also be eligible for a salary incentive payment of $30,000.
While the funding package was announced in February as part of a pre-election pledge, the government only published the full policy and guidelines this week.
In theory, the move will help make GP training more directly comparable to hospital-based training, which has historically provided better pay and conditions for junior doctors.
“It really is kind of a historic milestone for general practice training,” GPRA president Dr Chris Dickie told The Medical Republic.
“We’ve been advocating for this for many years, and these incentives provide quite genuine and tangible support for GP registrars.”
There are technically three parts to the policy: the salary incentive, the study leave incentive and the parental leave incentive.
Eligibility for the salary incentive is the most restrictive.
Only doctors who have commenced their first core training term on a Commonwealth-funded GP fellowship training program with either ACRRM or the RACGP in semester one 2026 or later can receive the $30,000 payment, which is paid in monthly instalments over six months or the time taken to complete GPT1.
Registrars who are not in active training, are on a self-funded training pathway or have already completed their first core community-based primary care training term prior to February 2026 are not eligible.
One example of a non-commonwealth funded GP training program is the RACGP’s Fellowship Support Program, which tends to be used by doctors who completed their primary medical training overseas.
Registrars who have previously received a state-based training incentive payment may also be partially or fully disqualified from the salary incentive, but some single employer model registrars will be eligible for the payments.
GPs-in-training will not automatically receive the payment; they must sign a declaration upon commencement of training that declares they meet the eligibility criteria and intend to complete GP training.
Related
Those who withdraw from training may be required to repay their salary incentive.
The study and parental leave components, meanwhile, are open to all registrars on commonwealth-funded GP training programs who are not already entitled to leave with their current employer.
This excludes many registrars on single-employer models, as well as those on self-funded pathways like the FSP.
The leave schemes allow registrars to take up to five days per year for study leave, two weeks for secondary caregiver parental leave and 20 weeks for primary caregiver parental leave.
When a registrar wants to take study leave, they must first notify their relevant training provider with the date/s and duration of the planned leave (e.g. full days, specific hours, etc.), the purpose of the leave and a signed declaration that they are not entitled to paid study leave with their current employer.
Applications for the incentive funding – i.e., the actual payment – can only be submitted once the activity is completed. In other words, it is paid in arrears by the commonwealth.
The parental leave scheme is broadly similar, with payments to registrars made monthly in arrears.
“You’re taking an unpaid leave from your practice, but the government is then paying for that leave,” Dr Dickie said.
“So you’re going to have time to study for your exams or to raise your family.”
All payments will be made at the corresponding base rate in the NTCER, plus 10% and superannuation.
Parental leave specifically covers the birth or adoption of a child, including through surrogacy, but does not cover miscarriage and pregnancy loss before 20 weeks gestation.
Where a pregnancy ends within 20 weeks of the expected date of birth, or if an infant dies within the first 20 weeks after birth, the paid leave provisions will still apply.
“The parental leave incentive provides registrars with financial support when undertaking parental leave where there is otherwise no employer paid parental leave or equivalent available,” the policy document said.
“This payment is an incentive, not an employment entitlement. It does not constitute paid leave. It is expected that registrars will continue to follow existing policies with their training providers (where appropriate) and should discuss with their supervisor and training provider how their leave may impact their training.”
