Stronger in practice: Practice Owners Conference 2026

From practice success and leadership to technology and innovation, the RACGP Practice Owners Conference 2026 saw around 800 delegates gather to discuss the big issues facing general practices across the country.
 
Opening the conference in Sydney on Saturday, RACGP NSW&ACT Chair Dr Rebekah Hoffman set the tone for an inspiring and educational weekend.
 
‘I understand the dynamic that’s involved when you’re trying to balance both sides of that consulting room door – both the clinical responsibilities and the business ones,’ she said.
 
‘Your patients that need you, your staff that depend on you, your mind constantly shifting between the business paperwork, the governance, the growth, and balancing the patient with their list that they’ve prepared.
 
‘This conference exists because of that dynamic and this reality. It deserves dedicated attention.’
 
The theme of this year’s conference is ‘stronger in practice’ – a fitting focus in a year that has seen its share of challenges.
 
At the opening session, RACGP President Dr Michael Wright spoke of a backdrop of major economic changes, advances in technology and geopolitical instability.
 
‘In Australia, we’ve seen major technological advances rapidly changing the way our practices operate,’ he said.
 
‘We’ve seen an increasing number of alternative providers and services popping up, expanding their scope from online single-issue telehealth to pharmacy prescribing pilots, which are expanding rapidly across multiple states and territories.
 
‘We have seen the Federal Government make multiple significant changes to Medicare, from changes to chronic disease care, removal of mental health items, tripling bulk-billing incentives to all Australians, plus the ongoing rollout of Medicare urgent care centres, and increased incentives, but also increased pressure to deliver bulk-billed services.
 
‘These are all causing major changes for our patients, but importantly, massive changes for how our practices deliver care to our patients, and how they may need to continue to deliver care to remain financially sustainable.’
 
Day one started with a lively discussion about navigating ‘the messy middle’ – the inevitable chaos that comes with running a practice and how to survive, and even thrive, through the challenges.
 
Northern NSW GP Dr David Glendinning spoke about the importance of practices evaluating the potential risks in their own organisations, whether it be a disaster response due to risk of flooding, or even the impact of a transport situation in the city that means staff can’t get to work.
 
Dr Glendinning spoke from experience after his district recently experienced its worst flood on record, which ‘took out public infrastructure, wiped out colleagues, medical clinics, schools were destroyed, farms destroyed – massive, massive impact’.
 
Kate Toon, an award-winning business mentor, digital marketing coach, speaker, podcaster, and author, talked about the importance of branding.
 
‘I want to know your values, your personality, your brand environment, what you stand for, and what you stand against,’ she said.
 
‘Really think about your brand. I know this sounds almost ridiculous, but you are a brand. You stand for something. People are talking about you in forums, in Facebook groups.
 
‘It’s really important to sit down and say, “what does my practice represent, and what do our doctors want to stand for in the community?”.’
 
Professor Louise Stone continued the theme by speaking about the complexity of general practice, and how running a practice is not always easily understood.



Practice owners then went their separate ways for various breakout sessions, covering everything from finance and technology to growth and remaining viable in rural areas.
 
Delegates heard about upcoming 1 July changes to enable pre-assignment and digitised forms for both pre- and post-services at a session dedicated to the reforms.
 
‘The key message from the session was that the principle of assignment of Medicare benefits hasn’t really changed, I think that’s the first thing,’ RACGP NSW&ACT council member Dr Paresh Dawda told newsGP.
 
‘What has changed is the ability and mechanism of how we can get that, including automation and digital workflows, and the idea of pre-assignment of benefits.
 
‘It means practices need to think about their workflows, how they manage aspects now, and what change they need to make in order to work with the new system.
 
‘There’s also some unknowns around more vulnerable populations, hard to reach populations, and I’m thinking about aged care, palliative care, disability care, homelessness, and what happens in those situations.’
 
The conference also saw the National Association of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers and Practitioners (NAATSIHWP) officially launch a three-part learning module, based on the RACGP-endorsed NAATSIHWP Guide for General Practice.
 
Sessions also included ‘general practice in an ever-changing environment’, ‘healthcare systems – a global perspective’, and ‘a practice owner’s guide to using AI’.
 
Wrapping up the weekend, Dr Wright labelled the conference an ‘exciting event’.
 
‘We’ve got 1000 people here, 800 GPs and practice managers and practice staff coming from all around Australia,’ he told newsGP.
 
‘We’re all here to come together to work out what are the ways to improve our practices, to improve our own quality of life, but also improve the care that we provide for our patients.’
 
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