We’ve been incredibly busy advocating in August, making significant progress on several important issues.
We headed to Mount Gambier to engage with local members, fostering discussions on key issues for their communities. During our visit, we toured four medical practices, delved into pressing topics such as workforce challenges, the role of international medical graduates (IMGs), GP training, and continuous professional development (CPD), among others. The more places and practices we visited, the more we recognised that – while workforce shortages are almost universal, each town is unique in the factors that aggravate the shortage and the potential solutions.
We also visited politicians in Canberra to further discuss the issues facing rural general practice. One key takeaway from our visit with the politicians is that they want to hear more from the GPs in their communities. It’s incredibly important that politicians, as elected representatives of our communities, hear first-hand accounts of what it means to be a rural GP. This includes the local stories, challenges, wins, and successes that we experience in our roles within the community. Engaging with politicians and advocating for our patients, colleagues, and communities is an important step towards larger policy changes for the profession and the healthcare system.
I encourage you to maintain regular contact with your MPs. If you’d like to engage with your local MPs or are interested in the steps you can take to be more involved in local advocacy, find out more in the RACGP local advocacy member guide.
We continue to meet with key stakeholders in healthcare to urge the Australian Government to prioritise rural healthcare. In August, this included a meeting with the Department of Health to discuss the MyMedicare patient registration model including incentives and nuances relating to rural medical care. Our priority in this meeting was to ensure satellite models of care and transient patients do not slip through the cracks of the new system.
We also met with the National Rural Generalist Pathway units from across the country. I was encouraged to see the number of RACGP members who are already working in rural and remote areas seeking recognition for their skills and experience. I was also pleased to see that some GPs who are years post fellowship, interested in training in additional skills for rural generalism.
This month, the RACGP ramped up its advocacy on payroll tax in New South Wales and Victoria. Despite being a state-based tax, there are national implications for our rural members and practices and you’ll see us being active in the media and calling on our state governments to provide an exemption.
We’re looking forward to another robust month of advocacy activity in September. If you have any questions or wish to get in contact about any advocacy issues, please contact rural@racgp.org.au
A/Prof Michael Clements
Chair, RACGP Rural
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