GP recruitment for regional employers

General practitioners diagnose and treat physical and mental illness and injury, order and interpret tests, prescribe, recommend preventive care, refer patients to specialists and arrange hospital admissions.⁵ In a country practice the same doctor may also cover a hospital emergency department, the local aged care home and after-hours on-call.

A fellowed GP holds specialist registration in general practice on the national register, based on fellowship of a specialist college such as the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (FRACGP) or the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (FACRRM).⁶ The Commonwealth-funded Australian General Practice Training program runs for three to four years full-time.⁷ ACRRM's fellowship program takes four years, with three years of core generalist training and at least 12 months of advanced specialised training.⁸

Since 16 June 2021, GP access to Medicare rebates has been tied to specialist registration: a GP fellow must hold specialist registration with the Medical Board of Australia to access them.⁶ Doctors still in training hold general registration while they work towards fellowship.¹⁷

The Distribution Priority Area classification marks locations with a shortage of GP services. Areas classed MM 2 to MM 7 on the Modified Monash Model are automatically a Distribution Priority Area, as are the whole of the Northern Territory and Tasmania, while inner metropolitan MM 1 areas are not.¹⁸ Under section 19AB of the Health Insurance Act 1973, overseas-trained doctors and foreign graduates of accredited medical schools generally must work in a DPA for 10 years from their Australian registration to access Medicare as a GP, unless an exemption applies or scaling shortens the period. Salaried roles that don't attract Medicare benefits, such as public hospital work, are not restricted.¹⁹

The Workforce Incentive Program Doctor Stream pays doctors who deliver enough eligible primary care in MM 3 to MM 7 locations between $3,600 and $60,000 a year, depending on activity, location, time in the program and vocational registration.²⁰ The payment goes to the doctor, so it can make your offer more attractive without adding to your costs.

Where the Medical Practitioners Award 2020 covers the role, a Community Medical Practitioner earns at least $2,037.15 a week at pay point 1, rising to $2,531.21 at pay point 8, from 1 July 2026.²¹ The award defines that classification as a doctor with at least four years' post-graduate experience employed in a community health centre or general medical practice. Its coverage clause lists the workplaces it covers, including hospitals, Aboriginal health services and community health centres, and private general practices are not on that list.²²

Market pay is well above that floor. General practitioners and resident medical officers, counted together as one group, had median full-time earnings of $2,446 a week in May 2025, nationally, against $1,852 for all occupations.⁵ That median counts employees only, and no regional pay series exists for GPs, so we talk with you early about the salary or billing arrangement, sessions and on-call that will compete for your town.

Start with the practice: its patients, the billing model, the team of nurses and allied health around the GP, and whether the role includes hospital sessions, procedures or after-hours on-call. Then the level, from a GP registrar who needs supervision to a fellow ready to take on a partnership or a practice principal role.

Tell us the town's Modified Monash category and Distribution Priority Area status if you know them. They shape who can bill Medicare in the role and which rural incentives the doctor may receive, so they help us decide where to search first.

A move to a regional practice is often a family decision, so housing, schools and a partner's work come up early. We start with GPs who already live in or have ties to your region, then widen the search to doctors planning a move from the cities or interstate.

Tell us what you can offer: help with housing and relocation costs, flexible sessions, protected time for teaching or special interests, and how after-hours work is shared across the town's doctors. We raise them in the first conversation.

If the right person needs a visa or sponsorship, our sister business Australian Immigration Agency can advise.

Register with Hire Australia and tell us your fellowship or training stage, your registration, the work you enjoy and where you would like to live. Registrars finishing training and experienced GPs are both welcome, and we will talk with you about practices that fit.