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NT latest to launch Single Employer Model
The RACGP says a focus on attracting GPs to the NT is encouraging, but addressing shortages requires ‘sustained, long‑term action’.
The rural town of Katherine in the NT will soon host up to 24 Rural Generalist registrars under a new workforce incentive.
The Northern Territory is the latest jurisdiction to trial a Single Employer Model (SEM) in efforts to strengthen the general practice workforce in rural and remote areas.
On Wednesday, Federal Health and Ageing Minister Mark Butler announced a new SEM trial, in partnership with the NT Government and beginning in June, to support up to 24 full-time equivalent Rural Generalists (RGs) to train in the Katherine and Big Rivers region.
‘This program will help to retain the doctors we need to continue to provide essential primary healthcare services to Territorians,’ he said.
‘Importantly, it will make it easier for people in rural Northern Territory to see a doctor close to home.’
As the central hub of the Big Rivers region, Katherine currently has a population of just over 11,000, with Aboriginal Health Services in or surrounding the town to host registrars as part of the SEM trial.
Wurli-Wurlinjang Health Service, Sunrise Health Service Aboriginal Corporation, Katherine West Health Board Aboriginal Corporation and Bauhinia Health are set as the local training partners.
It comes as a similar model was launched in rural Queensland earlier this year, hailed by the RACGP as a ‘fantastic opportunity’ for GPs in training to experience the ‘holistic ACCHO model’ under an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led SEM.
Under the newly announced NT program, RG registrars will be salaried employees of the Territory Government without changing employers every six to 12 months with each new general practice placement.
These registrars will work across primary care services and Katherine Hospital to complete their training under one employer, providing them a guaranteed income and entitlements such as annual leave, parental leave, sick leave and other benefits received by doctors training in hospital settings.
The RACGP broadly supports SEMs, which are rolling out across Australia, stating the model helps to address negative pay and condition disparities identified by junior doctors as a significant barrier to their entry into general practice.
However, the college recommends ‘careful consideration and evaluation’ of the evidence and ongoing role of existing and proposed SEMs.
‘A comprehensive evaluation of existing SEMs should explore their cost-effectiveness and impact in meeting workforce needs and influencing the decisions of trainees to choose and stay in general practice,’ the college position statement details.
RACGP President Dr Michael Wright welcomes the latest SEM pilot slated for the NT.
‘It’s encouraging to see a clear focus on getting more GPs into the Territory through the SEM ... and any measures that support recruitment into the NT are welcome,’ he said.
‘However, addressing GP shortages in the Territory will require sustained, long‑term action, including investment in training capacity, supervision and the viability of practices, if we are to build a workforce that is stable and fit for the future.
‘That means more supervisors, more training posts, and the right supports to make teaching sustainable for practices.’
The NT SEM trial begins in June 2026 and will run until December 2028.
The announcement comes as Dr Wright this week joins RACGP NT Chair Dr Sam Heard in the Territory to meet with local GPs, health services and community leaders to discuss ongoing pressures on the general practice workforce and access to care.
This includes advocating for urgent reforms to support sustainable primary care models amid the ongoing loss of private general practices in remote and regional NT communities.
The Medicare bulk-billing model on its own simply does not stack up in remote regions,’ Dr Heard said.
‘We are seeing the real-world consequences of this. Nhulunbuy in East Arnhem Land has just lost its private general practice, Tennant Creek has lost its last private GP clinic, and Katherine is struggling to keep a single private practice operating.
‘When private general practice disappears, the liveability of these towns suffers. People lose continuity of care, pressure shifts to already stretched hospitals, and communities become less attractive places to live and work.’
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Aboriginal health services general practice registrars GP workforce Northern Territory Rural Generalist single employer model
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