Leave entitlements are the leading drawcard for single employer models, new data reveals.
General practice registrars are more satisfied with their training partner now than at any other time in the last decade, according to insights from the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing’s 2025 GP national registrar survey.
The survey, which was published on Friday, contained responses from more than 1200 GP and rural generalist registrars, around three-quarters of whom were working toward an RACGP fellowship.
For the first time since the survey began in 2017, overall satisfaction with training providers reached 92%; only the second time that this measure has ever surpassed 90%.
It’s a particularly significant milestone given that satisfaction with training providers dropped to a record low of 84% in 2023, the year that GP training transitioned from government-run Regional Training Organisations to the colleges.
RACGP president Dr Michael Wright said the 2025 results spoke to the strength of college-led training.
“These results tell a very clear story: Australia’s GP registrars are thriving in high-quality training environments, supported by passionate supervisors,” he said.
“To keep strengthening this workforce, we need long-term funding certainty for general practice, and stable, well-supported training pathways.”
Rural generalism has sustained its popularity among junior doctors, and RG registrars now account for one quarter of all GP registrars.
While around 40% of RG registrars said they had decided to pursue rural generalism during their medical degree, one in four said they hadn’t decided on rural generalism until more than one year post graduation.
The other 75% of GP registrars were asked what factors would have made them more likely to choose rural generalism.
The top answer, having been selected by 43% of non-rural GP registrars, was higher pay.
One in three also said better work-life balance or a relocation support allowance could have persuaded them to go into rural generalism.
General Practice Registrars Australia president Dr Chris Dickie told The Medical Republic that the survey results reinforced the importance of continued focus on registrar wellbeing.
“While most registrars report access to personal support networks, the survey highlights that international medical graduates and those who relocate for training can face additional pressures,” he said.
“GPRA has advocated that the training system needs to better support IMGs and overseas-trained doctors, who work tirelessly across many Australian communities.
“This underlines the importance of targeted wellbeing support and independent advocacy throughout GP training.”
Last year’s GP registrar training survey was also the first to collect data on the experiences of registrars working in single employer model trials.
Three in four SEM registrars said they had chosen the model because it offered better access to entitlements like parental and long service leave; while reforms have been put through in the last year to allow GP registrars working in the community to access some forms of paid leave, these had not taken effect at the time survey data was collected.
The next-most popular reason for joining and SEM trial was continued employment by the state health service, followed by reduced financial risk and reduced burden of finding training placements.
Looking to the future, though, some 3% of respondents said they did not see themselves working in general practice in five years’ time.
“Burn out with poor pay as a female GP,” one registrar wrote.
“Medicare does not reward my comprehensive, thorough approach to patient care and I am consequently struggling.
“Everyone wants a GP who spends time and listens, at end of the day that makes me so incredibly financially disadvantaged to my male colleagues. So much easier as a physician.”
