For the first time, non-AGPT trainees are accounted for in the NTCER.
The independent peaks for general practice registrars and supervisors have revealed the latest version of the National Terms and Conditions for the Employment of Registrars (NTCER), featuring additional guidance for trainees on alternative pathways.
It is the first time that the NTCER has offered tailored guidance for registrars on the Rural Generalist Training Scheme, the Remote Vocational Training Scheme, the Fellowship Support Program, the Independent Pathway and single employer model pilots.
The NTCER, which is renegotiated every second year, is not technically a registered award; it only sets out the minimum standards for registrars on the Australian GP Training scheme.
The AGPT is the pathway that most Australian-trained GPs take and is offered by both the RACGP and ACRRM.
It is mandatory for practices with registrars on the AGPT to set out employment terms based on the NTCER.
“Individual advice cannot be provided with regards to the circumstances of a particular practice or registrar, but we do encourage that all practices and registrars [for whom the new schedules are applicable] consider adopting the NTCER to whatever extent it may be possible,” General Practice Supervision Australia chair Dr Srishti Dutta told The Medical Republic.
The added schedules for the alternate training pathways simply highlight which of the clauses in the main document are unlikely to be applicable.
For instance, the NTCER now notes that the terms around educational release, practice orientation and remuneration are not suitable to apply to doctors on the RACGP’s Fellowship Support Program.
In situations where the registrar is at a practice on secondment – e.g. part of a single employer model pilot or training with the Australian Defence Forces – the NTCER encourages the host clinic to adopt the clauses relating to things like registrar obligations, assignment of billing and orientation.
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“From our perspective, it’s important that we provide the information that sets [supervisors and practices] up for where they start from, and then depending on the practice, they can seek independent advice,” Dr Dutta said.
General Practice Registrars Australia president Dr Chris Dickie said that members of both peaks had been asking how to expand the NTCER beyond AGPT.
For GP registrars on the AGPT pathway, the main change to come out of the latest round of negotiations is a 2.4% increase to the mandatory minimum pay rate in line with the latest MBS indexation.
GPT1 registrars will go from an hourly rate of $46.46 to $47.58, GPT2 registrars will go from an hourly rate of $53.97 to $55.27 and GPT3 and above will go from an hourly rate of $57.64 to $59.02.
Over one year, it amounts to a pay rise of about $3000 across all levels.
From 2026, there will be a further 3.5% raise to minimum rates.
Because the NTCER only sets out minimum standards, it does not take into account the salary incentives for doctors choosing to study general practice that was announced as part of Labor’s $8.5 billion pre-election pledge.
The newest version for the NTCER goes live on 1 July.
