A new campaign from the RDAA and a new parliamentary inquiry will keep rural health the talk of Capital Hill.
Australia’s federal politicians will soon find themselves on the receiving end of a rural health advocacy onslaught, as a new inquiry seeks to investigate Medicare access in the bush and the Rural Doctors’ Association of Australia seeks to retain access to key incentives.
Established on Thursday, the rural, regional and remote Medicare access and funding inquiry will specifically look at how the most recent round of bulk billing investments play out in Australia’s regions.
Rather than the community affairs standing committee, which typically looks at health matters and indeed conducted the most recent inquiry into primary health services in rural Australia, it has been referred to the rural and regional affairs and transport standing committee.
The terms of reference include whether the 1 November introduction of expanded bulk billing incentives and bulk billing PIP change access to primary care outside of major cities, as well as the financial sustainability of independent rural general practice ownership.
It will also investigate the relationship between Medicare settings and emergency presentations, as well as the adequacy of Medicare supports for mixed-team models of care.
On a related note, the RDAA have set alarm bells ringing on the Workforce Incentive Program Rural Advanced Skills payment, which will effectively sunset on 31 December without urgent action.
The WIP RAS was only introduced in 2024 and recognises doctors who work across multiple settings in Modified Monash 3-7 regions.
There are two separate payment streams – one for emergency medicine and one for skills like obstetrics, anaesthetics or mental health – and payments are graded by rurality.
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If eligible, doctors can apply for payments under both schemes. That makes the maximum available incentive payment $21,000 per annum.
Unlike other WIP programs, such as the practice stream and the doctor stream, the rural advanced skills payment was only funded for activities in the 2023, 2024 and 2025 calendar years.
Without government intervention, it will simply lapse on 31 December this year.
“The old adage – ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ – rings very true here,” RDAA president Dr Sarah Chalmers said.
“After years of being in the wilderness, Rural Generalist Medicine is having its time in the sun – and rural and remote communities are going to benefit.”
Dr Chalmers also said the government should take the recent uptick in junior doctors applying for the ACRRM rural generalist pathway as a sign not to be “messing with the formula”.
“Now is not the time to withdraw any investment in Rural Generalism, but instead to double down on measures that are embedding Rural Generalist Medicine into the Australian healthcare system – and providing the best chance of delivering a more positive future for access to healthcare in rural and remote Australia,” she said.
The RDAA is also calling for an urgent funding extension to the rural generalist coordination units in each state, which is due to expire in June 2026.
