With one prominent GP-producing university missing out once again, medical colleges are questioning whether the latest CSP boost will really translate into more GPs.
The federal government will fund another 50 university places for aspiring doctors, but only for those prioritising primary care training and providing more rotations in general practice in rural and underserved metropolitan areas.
Minister for Health and Ageing Mark Butler announced on Monday that, from 2028, eight universities would each receive a share of the 50 new Commonwealth Supported Places (CSPs).
The places have been bestowed upon: The Australian National University, The University of Queensland, The University of Newcastle, Macquarie University, The University of Notre Dame Australia, The University of New South Wales, Queensland University of Technology and The University of Western Australia.
Each university received five CSPs, except ANU and QUT, which each received 10, according to a spokesperson from the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing.
“The determination of the distribution was based on several factors, including demonstrated capacity and capability, value for money, community impacts, innovative approaches and past and current performance of applicants,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson described the grant applications as “highly competitive” and “significantly oversubscribed”.
Universities were selected based on recommendations from the Selection Advisory Committee, including representatives from RACGP, Medical Deans Australia and New Zealand (MDANZ), the Department of Health, and the Department of Health, Disability, and Ageing.
“All unsuccessful applicants have been invited to submit a written request for feedback on their application,” the spokesperson said.
Notably absent, however, is Townsville’s James Cook University once again, despite 52% of its graduates progressing to the Australian GP Training Program.
JCU’s College of Medicine and Dentistry dean Dr Sarah Larkins told The Medical Republic the “disappointing” decision was a “missed opportunity” to encourage more GPs into North Queensland’s regions.
JCU’s unique quality, Dr Larkins said, is that approximately 70% of first-year medical students stream in from regional, remote, or rural communities.
The university’s rural and primary care placements for medical students are based entirely in regional North Queensland, including Mount Isa, Cloncurry, Weipa, and Emerald.
“Because of these factors, JCU medical graduates are three times more likely to practise in regional areas than other Australian medical school graduates and at least twice as likely to practise in a remote area,” she said.
Despite the disappointment, Dr Larkins said JCU would continue to advocate for more funding to provide more CSPs for students to study in regional communities such as Mackay, Cairns and Townsville.
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Australian Medical Students Association president Seniru Mudannayake told TMR while he appreciated the government’s intention to supply more GPs, he warned this “simple sell” might only further contribute to more unaccredited junior doctors in metropolitan areas.
“The government can introduce as many CSPs as it wants. But if it doesn’t recruit students likely to enter general practice, especially those from low-income, rural, and First Nations backgrounds, and doesn’t make medicine safe and accessible for them, I remain sceptical these CSPs will produce GPs,” Mr Mudannayake said.
“Until the government expands Commonwealth prac payment to medical students, we really feel these promises will ring hollow.”
“Australia graduates medical students at one of the highest rates in the OECD, yet our public is not receiving the access it deserves because we keep doing the simple thing of increasing CSPs instead of aligning them with training positions and eventual public specialist jobs.”
MDANZ chief executive Anita Hobson-Powell told TMR she was pleased with the investment in a “home-grown” GP workforce.
Of particular interest, she said Macquarie University was a first-time recipient of CSPs, and QUT doesn’t yet have an official medical program, which is still undergoing accreditation.
“Every Additional Commonwealth Supported Place represents a young Australian who will be trained here and learn here in, with and for the communities that need them most,” Ms Hobson-Powell said.
MDANZ’s welcoming of the announcement echoes a similar proposal from the New South Wales Medical Students’ Council (NSWMSC), whose policy paper called for a legislated domestic-graduate prioritisation framework to enter specialist training.
“Many international students are coming from lower socioeconomic countries, so we don’t want to be taking away from countries that have a strong need for their medical workforce,” Ms Hobson-Powell said.
But the MDANZ said it would continue to call for prac payment reform, as its data has previously shown 58.1% of final-year medical students in 2024 reported receiving Centrelink support.
“These people have a genuine need to get support, and we want to have doctors who come from all walks of life,” she said.
Ms Hobson-Powell said MDANZ looked forward to working with the government, medical schools and the RACGP to ensure growth in student numbers was matched by clinical placement capacity, supervision, student support, and progression into general practice.
While ACCRM also welcomed the announcement, president Dr Rod Martin warned expanding student numbers alone wouldn’t fix rural workforce shortages without investment in high-quality rural generalist pathways.
“We know that high-quality rural placements are one of the strongest predictors of where a doctor will eventually choose to practise,” Dr Martin said.
“Success will ultimately be measured by whether more Australians in rural, remote and First Nations communities can access the care they need, close to home.”
Since 2022, the government has announced funding for 358 new medical student places annually.
The government also recently announced its $1.36 billion Rural Health Training Program reboot, with grant applications currently open and set to commence in 2027.
