A good chunk of Victoria’s latest crop of GP registrars moved to the state because it offers training incentives, as fears of a bidding war ramp up.
GP trainee ranks in Victoria have swelled by almost one quarter this training year thanks to state-based incentives, but the national registrar organisation warns that a national solution is needed.
This year, the state boasts 358 GP registrars commencing training, an improvement of 22% on last year.
NSW and the ACT, meanwhile, will have 418 registrars commencing training – an increase of just 8% on 2024.
According to the RACGP, the comparative upswing in Victoria can be almost entirely credited to the state’s offer of $40,000 for junior doctors starting GP training.
Close to half of the trainees told the college they would not have pursued GP training without the cash incentive, while 13% said they moved from interstate specifically because of the program.
A similar result bore out in Tasmania, where training numbers increased by 57% to 47 new GP registrars following a promise from the state government to pay up to $100,000 of student debt for 40 registrars.
Queensland offers a similar grant program to Victoria, and a number of independent candidates in the ACT floated the same idea ahead of the Territory election last year.
General Practice Registrars Australia president Dr Chris Dickie told The Medical Republic that, while the state-level investment was encouraging, it was no panacea.
“We advocate for a national approach to this, rather than state-based individual approaches where perhaps Victoria is oversubscribed, but other states may be undersubscribed,” he said.
Related
“We want all Australians to have good access to general practice care, and that comes by funding things at a national level, not at a state level.”
One of GPRA’s key asks heading into this election season will be a nationwide incentive system, with the goal of first-year GP registrars having base rate parity with their hospital-based colleagues.
“We’re asking for the government to fund a $40 million per year base rate supplement so that you’re not taking a pay cut to enter general practice training,” Dr Dickie said.
“Many people do take a significant pay cut; the average, compared to your hospital-based peers, is over $30,000 per year.”
The success of state-based incentives, somewhat ironically, make a compelling argument for their replacement with a national system.
“If we want to be getting people into places that traditionally have had a harder time having GP trainees, then this funding package is definitely part of it – but we want to see it from a national level,” said Dr Dickie.
The registrar organisation will also be lobbying for a GP registrar leave and entitlements scheme, as well as funding for a GP peer initiative.
The ACT alone will welcome just 23 new registrars, with the remaining 418 working across NSW.
The RACGP has not released a breakdown of the training numbers in Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia or the Northern Territory.