The Federal Government is facing fresh demands to improve female GPs’ access to paid parental leave, with the RDAA saying its rules were contributing to rural doctor shortages.

At issue is the means testing used to access welfare payments up to $155 a day to a child’s birth or adoptive mother for up to 90 days of leave.

Eligibility is based entirely on the income of the newborn’s primary carer regardless of whether they are the main breadwinner, says RDAA president Dr Megan Belot.

A female GP earning above the $150,000 income threshold would not receive any payments even if their family’s income dropped to nothing while she was not working.