The Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) welcomes the announcement from the Queensland Premier Steven Miles to further incentivise doctors to train as General Practitioners (GPs) in the state.
The Premier, alongside Minister for Health the Hon Shannon Fentiman, announced Queensland GP registrars commencing training in 2025 and 2026 will be eligible to receive an incentive payment of $40,000.
The payments are part of the Queensland Government’s $20 million workforce attraction incentive scheme.
ACRRM President Dr Dan Halliday says the commitment of funding to support GP and Rural Generalist (RG) registrars and to improve the attractiveness of GP training for junior doctors is a welcome acknowledgement of the critical role that these doctors play in delivering primary and preventative healthcare services; treating chronic disease; and keeping people out of hospital.
“ACRRM’s primary goal is to provide access to high quality continuous medical care that is close to home for people living outside the urban footprint,” Dr Halliday says.
“To do that we need to attract the right people to choose a rural medical career, and we need to support them with funding to enable them to focus on skills development rather than financial burden.
‘That is why we hope that this funding will be specifically directed towards rural and remote practice
“Not only do our registrars need access to funding for their training program, but they also experience higher costs working and living in rural and remote communities.
"We trust this funding will be targeted in places of need.
“We look forward to seeing more detail alongside this announcement, and to having further discussions to ensure the funding addresses the state’s maldistribution of general practice services that is making it especially hard for people in rural and remote communities to see a doctor.
“The College is also interested in working with governments at all levels to develop solutions that recognise and incentivise retention of our highly skilled rural GPs and RGs who provide the high-quality access to services that rural, remote and First Nations communities need and deserve,” Dr Halliday says.
The Premier, alongside Minister for Health the Hon Shannon Fentiman, announced Queensland GP registrars commencing training in 2025 and 2026 will be eligible to receive an incentive payment of $40,000.
The payments are part of the Queensland Government’s $20 million workforce attraction incentive scheme.
ACRRM President Dr Dan Halliday says the commitment of funding to support GP and Rural Generalist (RG) registrars and to improve the attractiveness of GP training for junior doctors is a welcome acknowledgement of the critical role that these doctors play in delivering primary and preventative healthcare services; treating chronic disease; and keeping people out of hospital.
“ACRRM’s primary goal is to provide access to high quality continuous medical care that is close to home for people living outside the urban footprint,” Dr Halliday says.
“To do that we need to attract the right people to choose a rural medical career, and we need to support them with funding to enable them to focus on skills development rather than financial burden.
‘That is why we hope that this funding will be specifically directed towards rural and remote practice
“Not only do our registrars need access to funding for their training program, but they also experience higher costs working and living in rural and remote communities.
"We trust this funding will be targeted in places of need.
“We look forward to seeing more detail alongside this announcement, and to having further discussions to ensure the funding addresses the state’s maldistribution of general practice services that is making it especially hard for people in rural and remote communities to see a doctor.
“The College is also interested in working with governments at all levels to develop solutions that recognise and incentivise retention of our highly skilled rural GPs and RGs who provide the high-quality access to services that rural, remote and First Nations communities need and deserve,” Dr Halliday says.