Representing the views of Rural Generalists, rural General Practitioners, and their profession is a key focus of the College. Members’ perspectives are important for informing policies, position statements, Government submissions and reports which influence essential services ACRRM members provide to rural, remote, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

The College advocates on behalf of members in a range of forums, collaborations, and partnerships. ACRRM regularly engages with policy development, review, and reform agendas at national level, and provides written submissions, organisational delegations, consultations, and private briefings to a range of national policy and reform agendas.

Forums in the past month

Recent meetings and consultations included an informal consultation with the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, where the College Fellows were able to provide advice on training for health practitioners; and incentives, engagement and barriers related to building greater awareness and in caring for veterans generally.

The College was represented by Fellows at the meeting of the MBS-funded Urgent Care Centres Operational Advisory Group; and staff members joined meetings of the ACSQHC Primary and Community Care Standards Advisory Committee and a stakeholder consultation initiative by the MBS Benefits Integrity Division of the Department of Health and Aged Care. (DOHAC).

We acknowledge and thank members for their assistance and support in representing the College on a wide range of Advisory Groups and Committees, especially since much of this work is done on a voluntary basis. 

Service Registrar and Career Medical Officer Framework

The College has forwarded a submission to the DOHAC providing feedback on plans to develop a national Service Registrar and Career Medical Officer Framework, an initiative associated with the National Medical Workforce Strategy implementation. ACRRM’s advice recognised the distortions in the national workforce, with oversupply of accredited and unaccredited specialist trainees in many subspecialties alongside substantial rural and remote workforce shortages. The College emphasised the role and value of the Rural Generalists workforce of doctors trained to take a generalist approach to delivery of advanced specialised care in hospitals and to respond with agility to changing community needs including to provide general practice services where needed. It emphasised the importance that Rural Generalists and all general practitioners, and other community-facing care providers and their representative bodies are an integral part of the service registrar training experience, qualifications, and decision-making structures. 

Support to Fellowship for International Medical Graduate doctors

The College has been contributing to discussions and has provided feedback to the DOHAC on approaches to better supporting overseas trained doctors to attain Fellowship with ACRRM and become skilled, confident, and well-supported, practitioners in rural and remote areas.

Inquiry into Diabetes and Obesity

This month, the College has provided feedback to the Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Sport Inquiry into Diabetes and Obesity, supporting the globally agreed target to halt the rise in diabetes and obesity by 2025. Social determinants of health and population demographics contribute significantly to risk factors for diabetes and associated chronic conditions, particularly in rural and remote and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.  When compounded by poorer access to primary and preventative health care and subsequent challenges in accessing secondary care, the impacts of diabetes can be far more significant in these areas.

Prevention and early intervention are key to changing the trajectory of the diabetes epidemic, and the College has stated that the pivotal role of Rural Generalists across Australia’s rural, remote, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities can be leveraged to provide screening, early diagnosis, treatment, and support for diabetes in primary care settings.

Interim Prohibition Orders

Ahpra and the National Boards have been consulting on their new power under the National Law to issue interim prohibition orders (IPOs) to unregistered practitioners, including practitioners whose registration has lapsed or been suspended.

An IPO issued by Ahpra, or a National Board can prohibit or restrict a person from providing a specified health service or all health services, and prohibit a person from using protected titles, and  the stated intention is that Ahpra and the National Boards will only take this step “in extraordinary situations that are very serious” and where time is of the essence, the principle of protection of the public and public confidence in the safety of health services being paramount.

The College Submission reiterates concerns regarding amendments to the National Law being too broad in scope, and failing to strike an appropriate balance between measures to protect the public and the basic human rights of health practitioners.   The College considers it imperative that these powers are accompanied by rigorously worded provisions in the Regulatory Guide to ensure that they are exercised only in the most serious cases to protect the public where the high threshold test is met.

The Policy team values all members’ input on policy issues as they arise. Member input allows us to provide submissions and representations which are more powerful and more reflective of the realities of rural and remote practice on the frontline.

Contact Policy@acrrm.org.au  if you would like to provide feedback on a particular issue or consultation.