Federal Budget 2024–25: A detailed breakdown for GPs

The RACGP has blasted the Federal Government and its latest Budget, which it says does almost nothing to futureproof general practice, improve accessibility for already struggling patients, or bolster mental health resources.
 
A fuming RACGP has accused the Federal Government of ‘dropping the ball’, at a critical time when student interest in becoming a GP is slipping, rural towns are left without doctors, and patients simply cannot afford to visit their doctor.
 
After a windfall of funding last year, the 2024–25 Budget has also left GPs without an increase in Medicare rebates, as well as offering almost no support for rural patients.
 
The college says this lack of investment to make essential healthcare more affordable will cost the Government much more in the long run as cash-strapped patients flood to hospitals.

Following the Budget’s hand down on Tuesday evening, newsGP has taken a detailed look at the key measures affecting GPs.
 
Workforce
The Budget allocated $90 million for the implementation of health-related recommendations of the Kruk Review.
 
The RACGP said the review comes as Australia faces a looming GP workforce shortage, and insists the colleges remain as the profession-led, evidence-based quality controls who are tasked with overseeing registrar training.
 
In its 2024–25 pre-Budget submission, the RACGP urged the Federal Government to fund an incentive payment, parental leave and study leave for GPs in training to incentivise more junior doctors to choose to specialise in general practice. However, this was not done.
 
Speaking from Canberra, RACGP President Dr Nicole Higgins told newsGP this crippling workforce maldistribution must be addressed immediately, before the shortage worsens.
 
‘With only one in 10 medical graduates choosing general practice, it has never been more urgent to focus on growing our workforce and supporting our GPs in training through paid parental leave and entitlements,’ she said.
 
‘We need to look at the big picture – the future of general practice, and the direction it’s taking.’
 
It was also announced that the existing single employer model (SEM) trials will be extended until 31 December 2028, and $4.7 million will be invested for the Northern Territory Medical Program to increase the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander medical practitioners.
 
Mental health
As more Australians than ever continue to struggle with mental health conditions, especially younger patients, around $71 million will be spent on wraparound care for people with severe or complex needs in primary care settings.
 
The RACGP said GPs play a crucial role in aiding the nation’s mental health system as an entry point and deliverer of care, but said it is awaiting further details about the services Primary Health Networks (PHNs) will be commissioning.
 
In highlighting the importance of continuity of care and a patients’ relationship with a regular GP, the college also welcomed an extra $29.9 million for Head to Health services to provide free access to a psychologist and psychiatrist and establish 61 Medicare Mental Health Centres.
 
Around $588 million will go towards establishing a free, national low-intensity digital mental health service, while $29.7 million will work towards improving child and youth mental health services.
 
However, the RACGP has previously called for $838 million to support universal annual child health checks during the first 2000 days, saying general practice is the only medical specialty that cares for patients in both childhood and adolescence.
 
The college has also opposed the Federal Government removing MBS items for the review of a GP mental health treatment plan, including MBS item 2712, as of 1 November 2025.
 
The Department of Health and Aged Care (DoHAC) has advised GPs should instead use standard consultation items, including the new Level E item where appropriate.
 
Medicare
The Federal Government confirmed it would allocate $16 million for the implementation of system changes to MyMedicare which will enable the payment of incentives to GPs and practices.
 
This is a move supported by the RACGP, however the college said there is a significant opportunity to provide greater support for MyMedicare, including through additional funding for a MyMedicare-linked bundled payment to support coordination of care for vulnerable patients.
 
More than $57 million was promised to extend the Practice Incentive Program Quality Improvement incentive payments, and $17.4 million will be used to extend the General Practice Incentive Fund, both until 30 June 2025.
 
Additionally, $18.1 million will extend and expand the Government’s response to the Independent Review of Medicare Integrity and Compliance (the Philip Review), with the RACGP due to meet with the DoHAC next month for an update on its progress.
 
The RACGP also welcomed a $23.1 million funding boost to extend the MBS Continuous Review program to ensure the MBS remains clinically appropriate.
 
‘There is a risk that this Government, instead of strengthening Medicare, they will dismantle it, and the healthcare system, and the role of the family doctor,’ Dr Higgins said.
 
‘We do not want to end up with a two-tier system.’
 
Primary care
Ahead of the Budget’s release, the Government has already announced $227 million for 29 additional Medicare Urgent Care Clinics, a move the RACGP warned will fragment care, instead calling for funding to be spent on general practice.
 
Around $22 million will be spent to continue support for preventive health and chronic disease research, with the college urging this to be GP-led and conducted in general practice.
 
The Budget allocated $47.5 million to expand Healthdirect Australia and $57.4 million to continue updating My Health Record, a modernisation move welcomed by the RACGP.
 
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health
The Australian Indigenous Doctors’ Association will receive a $4 million boost to better support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander doctors to become medical specialists.
 
Just over $11 million has also been allocated to improve access to PBS-subsidised medicines for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. 
 
While the RACGP welcomed this move, it noted that for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to access this medication they need to be able to see a GP, and with a lack of sustainability of bulk billing or cultural safety practice, this can be almost impossible.
 
Access to medicines
The Eighth Community Pharmacy Agreement will get a significant funding boost for the PBS general and concessional co-payments to not be indexed between January and December 2025, while the Government is working to finalise the agreement, supported by $3 billion in additional funding.
 
Around $3.4 billion will be spend on new and amended listings PBS and the Repatriation Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (RPBS), with the RACGP support changes will offer patients better access medicines.
 
Under this new arrangement, no pensioner or concession card holder will pay more than $7.70 (plus any applicable manufacturer premiums) for their PBS-listed medicines for up to five years.
 
Aged care sector
More than $600 million will help states and territories invest in initiatives which address long-stay older patient challenges, unique to each jurisdiction, with the RACGP saying it will await further detail to understand how general practice can support older people to have their care managed in the community.
 
Around $1.2 billion will also be allocated for the sustainment of, and essential enhancements to, critical aged care digital systems so they remain legislatively compliant and contemporary and can support the introduction of the new Aged Care Act from July next year.
 
Disability sector
The Federal Government will provide $468.7 million to support people with disability, which will go towards the findings of the Independent NDIS Review, and boosting fraud detecting information technology systems at the National Disability Insurance Agency.
 
The Government will also establish an NDIS Implementation Advisory Committee and NDIS Implementation Working Group, to oversee implementation of reforms recommended by the Independent NDIS Review
 
The RACGP said there is a need for GPs to play a central role in any new NDIS access process, and addresses topics including the use of functional assessment tools.
 
Other
The Federal Government will provide $1.4 billion over 13 years from 2024–25 through the Medical Research Future Fund for medical research in Australia, with the RACGP calling for an increased amount of research funding to be allocated to general practice.
 
Around $5 million will be spent to support placement costs for health practitioners to undertake long-acting reversible contraception insertion and removal training, with the RACGP saying this is particularly important in areas of workforce shortages.
 
The college is calling for a further increase in the Medicare patient rebate for insertion of an IUD (item 35503), so the rebate truly reflects the cost of providing this service in general practice.
 
Additionally, $49.1 million funding for two new MBS items for extended consultation times and increased rebates for specialist gynaecological care.
 
Dr Higgins said she was disappointed in funding for women’s health, saying much more was needed to support it within general practice.
 
‘With a Budget that was focused on women’s health, there is a lack of recognition that most women’s health occurs in general practice – it was a missed opportunity,’ she said.
 
‘With 60% of our GPs in training women, the lack of recognition for the need for paid parental leave and entitlements was another missed opportunity in improving our workforce.’
 
Other funding included $631.1 million to support ongoing access to life-saving vaccines, including for COVID-19, $22.3 million to continue funding for the Antimicrobial Use and Resistance in Australia project, and $800,000 for the delivery of a GP education program for Parkinson’s disease.
 
The RACGP has now vowed to continue its advocacy for increased investment in general practice.
 
It said ultimately this year’s Budget does not go far enough to address GP workforce challenges, and the urgent need to make general practice an attractive career.
 
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