More than half of GP registrars are earning less than they did in their final year of pre-vocational hospital training, with many trainees doing hospital locum work to supplement their income, a national survey has found. 

Only 23% of the 1274 registrars who took part indicated that they were earning more now than they did in the hospital system.

The findings have again raised questions about the incentives for junior doctors to choose general practice as a specialty during the ongoing workforce crisis.

The average income per semester for a full-time GP registrar according to the results was between $50,000 and $60,000.