The RACGP National workforce strategy 2025–30 builds on 60 years of leadership to address Australia’s evolving healthcare challenges. This initiative strengthens the role of The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) in workforce planning, advocacy and system reform to ensure a sustainable general practitioner (GP) workforce nationwide.
The RACGP National workforce strategy aligns with key RACGP frameworks and focuses on growing the GP workforce across all regions, future-proofing the profession, supporting cultural safety and positioning general practice at the healthcare system’s core. It integrates external workforce forecasts with the RACGP’s own data analytics for evidence-based policy recommendations.
This initiative emerges during significant healthcare reform, informed by the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce Report,1 Scope of Practice Review,2 GP Incentives Review3 and the Australian Government’s National Medical Workforce Strategy.4 The RACGP National workforce strategy balances data-driven planning with recognition that workforce planning is fundamentally about people – the GPs, registrars and students with personal aspirations and challenges. It acknowledges that behind every statistic is an individual dedicated to patient care, and the vital role played by overseas-trained doctors is clearly articulated.
Consumer perspectives are central to the Strategy, recognising that healthcare needs vary significantly depending on location, financial circumstances and health conditions. By incorporating diverse community voices, the National workforce strategy aims to develop policies that reflect Australians’ lived experiences.
With annual updates to address ongoing reforms, the RACGP National workforce strategy represents a vital step toward a resilient, well-supported GP workforce that can meet the needs of all Australians. Through collaboration and data-driven planning, it aims to ensure general practice remains the foundation of Australia’s healthcare system for generations to come.
The RACGP’s strategy is to collaborate with the Commonwealth in the development of a cohesive and coherent approach to the GP workforce, including the following:
- Acknowledge the size of the GP shortfall.
- Lead planning for structural adjustments to ensure the sustainability of a domestic-trained GP workforce.
- Incentivise and attract GP registrars.
- Moderate potential earnings inequity to improve the ability of GPs across Australia to generate competitive incomes.
- Acknowledge the RACGP’s efforts to distribute registrars in training, when planning and allocating health funding.
Recent funding commitments by the Australian Government,5 in response to the RACGP’s work include:
- an additional 200 GP training places per year from 2026, increasing to an extra 400 places per year from 2028
- salary incentives for junior doctors to specialise in general practice
- paid parental leave and study leave for trainee GPs
- an additional 200 rotations for junior doctors in primary healthcare per year from 2026, increasing to an extra 400 per year from 2028
- an additional 100 Commonwealth Supported Places (CSPs) for medical students per year from 2026, increasing to 150 per year by 2028, and uncapped places for First Nations students to study medicine.
The RACGP National workforce strategy 2025–30 is available online (www.racgp.org.au/advocacy/racgp-national-workforce-strategy-2025-30).