A record number of doctors will enter GP training next year, but more investment is needed to tackle Australia’s GP shortage, according to the RACGP.
Some 1,504 junior doctors have accepted specialist training through the college’s GP training program for 2025, an increase of 249 – or 19% – on this year.
Of these, 844 will undertake a general training pathway, 583 a rural pathway and 77 a composite rural placement.
It is the first time the college has filled its Federally funded Australian GP Training program in years.
RACGP president Dr Nicole Higgins said it was a sign the GP workforce is recovering, but warned the government must make lasting investments to tackle Australia’s GP shortage and ensure people can see a GP regularly.
“This is a record to be proud of, and the growth in training numbers reflects not just that the Government has given us the flexibility we need to accommodate prospective trainees and the funding to enable them to take placements, but the great experience junior doctors have had in GP training,” she said.
“We’ve shown we can train more GPs, and we’ve shown we can get GPs to the communities who need them most, including rural and regional communities. We just need the funding to sustain this growth.”
The RACGP trains around 90% of Australia’s GPs, including those practising in regional, rural, remote, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
The college said the government’s response to calls to enable more junior doctors to take up training places, including funding for accommodation, travel, and childcare, had supported the growth in GP training numbers.
But Dr Higgins said more is needed to support the GP workforce and patients, including a boost to Medicare rebates, the funding of 500 more RACGP GP training places over the next five years and ensuring GPs in training have equal pay and work entitlements to other medical specialists in training.
She also called for universities’ allocation of Commonwealth supported places to be linked to a target of 50% of their graduates training in general practice and practising where they are most needed.
“We need the Government to continue to focus on solutions, with major investments in general practice and incentives for universities to play their part in getting GPs into communities, especially outside the capitals,” Dr Higgins said.
“General practice spending fell from 7% of Australia’s total health spending in 2012, to 5.7% in 2022 as spending on hospitals surged. This makes it harder for patients to see a GP, and it tells junior doctors they won’t be as valued in the community as they will in a hospital.
“Universities must also align their priorities with what our communities need. Our universities, especially many of our most prestigious universities, just aren’t producing doctors who practise as GPs where patients need them. They are funded by our whole community, and their funding should reflect our urban, regional, and rural communities’ expectations.”
Alongside the Australian training program, the RACGP also trains internationally qualified medical graduates as specialist GPs through its Fellowship Support Program and provides a pathway to practise in Australia through its Practice Experience Program Specialist stream.
Health Minister Mark Butler said the government was doing everything it could to attract and retain more doctors.
“This is a big vote of confidence from doctors, and it will make it easier for Australians to see a doctor when they need one.”
The Federal Government provided $2.8 billion in the 2024/25 budget to strengthen Medicare, following on from a $6.8 billion investment in Medicare in the 2023/24 budget which included $220 million to support the health workforce.