Grants entice 400 graduates into general practice

A state-based grant program designed to entice more medical graduates into general practice has proven successful, with 44% of applicants saying they would have pursued a different career in medicine if the program did not exist.
 
The $32 million, two-year commitment from the Victorian Government saw 800 grants of $40,000 made available to eligible doctors – 400 in 2024 and 400 in 2025.
 
The 2024 allocation of those grants has now been awarded to medical graduates, with new data revealing that 64% of applicants said the program had some influence on their decision to enrol in GP training in Victoria.
 
Additionally, 59% of recipients are now doing their placement in regional Victoria, and 13% said they moved to Victoria from overseas or interstate because of the program.
 
Dr Stephanie Parker is a Melbourne-based GP registrar who received one of the grants, telling newsGP it had been a ‘huge help’ for her, both personally and professionally.
 
‘This grant is really important in attracting people to choose general practice as a specialty and the reason for that is because there is a bit of a discrepancy in the remuneration that registrars receive if they’re working in a hospital compared to if they transitioned into general practice,’ she said.
 
‘The ambition of this grant was that it would help bridge that gap, and I think that it certainly has gone a long way to achieving that.
 
‘It’s also helped registrars with cost of living and all of their personal commitments because medicine is largely a postgraduate degree now so people that come to general practice have mortgages, they have children and other expenses.’
 
The Victorian grant program was designed to make general practice more attractive for young doctors, with higher remuneration usually on offer to those working in other medical specialties.
 
Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas said the grants not only benefit the GP workforce, but also makes primary care more accessible for patients.
 
‘So many Victorians have built trusted relationships with their GP over a number of years, but we know for many others, it is a lengthy wait or too expensive,’ she said.
 
‘Supporting more graduates to pursue a career in general practice and improving access to primary care will help to ease pressure on our busy emergency departments and prevent delayed care.’


Dr Stephanie Parker at Harp Family Medical in eastern Melbourne. (Image: Jake Pinskier)
 
While many other states are now offering similar grants or initiatives, there are ongoing calls for nationwide and systemic changes to help young doctors pursue general practice.
 
Dr Parker said it is vital future GPs are encouraged into the workforce, and are given opportunities to work within it, especially as demand for services and care skyrockets.
 
‘We want to give people the opportunity to see a doctor when they need to see a doctor,’ she said.
 
‘The population is ageing and so is the general practice workforce, and that means there’s a lot of GPs coming up to retirement, and it’s really important for the GPs coming through.
 
‘It was a really good initiative from the Victorian Government and some of the other states that followed suit, but I think it would just be really good if the Federal Government could take note of the success of this program.’
 
A further 400 grants are now available in 2025 for those beginning a GP training program in Victoria, providing a top-up payment for first-year trainees of $30,000 and $10,000 to support the costs of exams.
 
Eligible doctors are those who have started a GP training program in Victoria in 2024 and 2025, as well as doctors that commenced GP training in Victoria in 2023 who applied, enrolled and were accepted on or after 27 November 2022.
 
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