GPs savage plan to prioritise bulk-billing practices for registrar training 

The Federal Government has shocked GPs with draft guidance that would require the GP colleges to prioritise bulk-billing practices for registrar training.

The government wants the clause added to the next five-year contracts it will sign with the RACGP and ACRRM for them to administer GP training, which will cover 2026 to 2030 and be worth millions of dollars. 

Training tenders had never been linked to billing practices before, GP supervisor and AMA Queensland president Dr Nick Yim told AusDoc.

“This guideline could see deserving clinics that offer high-quality training and supervision, including a broad scope of practice for trainee GPs, miss out on developing that critical relationship with new doctors,” said Dr Yim. 

He said the requirement could push registrars into high-churn corporate clinics or deter them from GP training altogether, and force mixed-billing practices that rely on registrars out of business. 

“We know many doctors choose general practice because of the variety of the work, including rural medicine. If they feel their training options might be narrowed, they may choose another specialty altogether.

“Many practices in regional and rural areas are mixed-billing clinics, and if they can’t get a trainee, that potentially could affect their succession plans in those communities. 

“We know some places are closing their doors because of viability, and to force practices to bulk-bill to have a trainee is concerning.

“At a time when retiring GPs are closing their practices because they cannot find younger doctors to take over, we cannot afford to impose measures that could negatively affect our medical workforce.” 

RACGP President Dr Michael Wright said he could not comment on the specifics of the grant process.

But he said the RACGP’s general approach to placements was to ensure “that accredited training practices and placements are in communities which need more GPs”. 

“The college is working to ensure all Australian communities can have access to high-quality specialist GP care, and billing practices do not determine training placements.” 

AusDoc contacted the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing but did not receive a reply.