AMAV continues to advocate for strong support measures to sustain Victoria’s general practice workforce, engaging with the Australian Government on initiatives to attract and retain GP registrars.

In recent communications with the government, AMAV commended its investment in Medicare and primary healthcare, particularly in women’s health, workforce recruitment, and GP sustainability.

Against this backdrop, AMAV highlighted the success of the Victorian Government’s GP Grants Program—an initiative we strongly advocated for—which provides $30,000 top-up payments and $10,000 in exam cost coverage for eligible GP trainees. This program has significantly reduced financial disparities between GP registrars and their hospital-based peers, improving workforce attraction and retention. Early evidence indicates increased uptake and engagement among GP trainees.

AMA Victoria is calling on the Commonwealth to extend the GP Registrar Payment nationally, ensuring coordinated national support to:

• Strengthen the GP workforce’s capacity to deliver high-quality, gender-responsive healthcare.
• Complement national efforts to promote general practice as a career choice.
• Reinforce the Single Employer Model (SEM) Trials to improve employment conditions and incentivise the next generation of GPs. (Advocated for by AMA Victoria, the Victorian trial is operating in three regional health services, where registrars are employed by these services and rotated into GP practices. This model offers improved workplace entitlements and enhances rural general practice as a sustainable career path.)
• Address ongoing GP workforce shortages, particularly in outer metropolitan, regional, and rural areas.

Federal investment in this program would align with the government’s broader Medicare reforms and provide a much-needed boost to general practice workforce sustainability. AMA Victoria looks forward to further engagement with the Commonwealth to advance this proposal.