What is the Workforce Incentive Program – Practice Stream?

Morgan 29/06/2021

This is a FAQ BLOG and you can refer to our General Practice Incentives & How To Get Them blog here.

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Date Updated: 2026-09-08

What is it?

The ‘Practice Stream’ provides financial incentives to help general practices with the cost of employing health professionals.

There is also a Workforce Incentive Program – Doctor Stream. If you’re a doctor wanting to know, please look here.

How does it work?

If the practice is part of the Practice Stream, both the health practitioners of the practice and their average weekly hours should be reported to Services Australia.

A quarterly statement from Services Australia is given to the practice to confirm the details, which contains the total hours of service of the eligible health practitioners. When the report has been verified and submitted back, the practice will receive the incentive.

Am I eligible?

General practices (including Aboriginal Medical Services, and Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services) are eligible for the program.

Further eligibility requirements for practices include:

  • Be a general practice as defined by RACGP
  • Employ a full or part time GP and be an Open Practice
  • Be accredited, or registered for accreditation, as a general practice against the RACGP Standards for general practices. Accreditation must:
    • Be current at the point in time date of each payment quarter to be eligible for payment;
    • If registered for accreditation, practices must achieve accreditation against the RACGP Standards within 12 months of being approved in the WIP – Practice Stream, or within 12 months of being approved in the Practice Incentives Program (PIP) if a PIP consenting practice, and maintain accreditation thereafter;
  • If the practice is a Practice Incentives Program (PIP) consenting practice, it must remain eligible in the PIP
  • Maintain at least $10 million in public liability insurance cover for the main location and each additional practice location
  • Make sure all GPs and health professionals have the required professional indemnity insurance cover
  • Employ or engage the services of an eligible health professional listed below in ‘Eligible Health Professionals’

These are the eligible health professionals under the Practice Stream:

  • nurse practitioners
  • registered nurses
  • enrolled nurses
  • midwives
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers and Practitioners
  • specified allied health professionals:
    • audiologists
    • chiropractors
    • diabetes educators
    • dietitians/nutritionists
    • exercise physiologists
    • occupational therapists
    • orthoptists
    • orthotists/prosthetists
    • osteopaths
    • paramedics
    • pharmacists (non-dispensing role)
    • physiotherapists
    • podiatrists
    • psychologists
    • social workers
    • speech pathologists

Please note that all eligible health professionals must have the required professional indemnity insurance cover.

Practices also have the freedom to decide on the type of health professionals they employ and flexibility of their hours or employment classification.

What services are ineligible for the program?

Ineligible services include:

  • Medical Deputising Services that directly arrange for medical practitioners to provide after-hours services to patients of practice principals during the absence of, and at the request of the practice principals; and
  • After-hours services that provide care outside the normal opening hours of a general practice. This applies whether or not:
    • the service deputises for other general practices; and
    • the care is provided physically within or outside the practice.

Also, if a practice is already receiving financial support to employ or engage an eligible health professional, or if that support covers the services they provide, then the practice cannot claim payment for those hours. Support may be from private funding, Australian Government funding, state/territory funding, or other incentive programs.

How much can I get?

The value that the practice gets is dependent on the following:

  • Practice type
  • Practice location
  • Practice’s SWPE value
  • Type of eligible health professionals
  • Average weekly hours worked by eligible health professionals at the practice over the quarter
  • Rural loadings applicable (loading by MM region and DVA concession status, this means you can get an more if you work in a rural area)

If the practice location is in an eligible rural area, then a rural loading will be applied to the incentive payment. The rural loadings per WIP – Practice Stream incentive is based on MMM classification and are as follows:

  • 0% for MM 1
  • 0% for MM 2
  • 30% for MM 3
  • 40% for MM 4
  • 40% for MM 5
  • 60% for MM 6
  • 60% for MM 7 

Here is a visual summary of the amounts that you can get based on hours and SWPE value:

Some examples from the guidelines would be the following:

  • Registered nurse in metro area
    • Practice A has a SWPE value of 4,000 and employs a registered nurse for an average of 38 hours per week. The practice is located in MM 1 and therefore not entitled to receive a rural loading. 
    • Practice A Incentive Payment – $105,710.52 per year or $26,427.63 per quarter

  • Nurse practitioner in a rural area 
    • Practice B has a SWPE value of 2,000 and employs a nurse practitioner for an average of 25 hours and 20 minutes per week. The practice is located in MM 5 and is therefore entitled to a rural loading in addition to the incentive payment.
    • Practice B Incentive Payment – $70,473.68 per year plus a rural loading of 40% = $98,663.15 per year or $24,665.79 per quarter

  • Registered nurse and allied health professionals in a rural area 
    • Practice D has a SWPE value of 3,000 and employs:
      • a registered nurse for an average of 25 hours per week,
      • a psychologist for an average of 8 hours, and 
      • a non-dispensing pharmacist for an average of 8 hours. 
    • The practice is located in MM 6 and is therefore entitled to a rural loading in addition to the incentive payment. 
    • Practice D Incentive Payment – $105,710.52 per year (the maximum incentive amount for an organisation with a SWPE value of 3,000) plus a rural loading of 60% = $169,136.83 per year or $42,284.21 per quarter

How do I apply?

There are two ways to apply, and application submissions can be submitted at any time: 

You will need to send a completed application, including all supporting documents, at least 7 calendar days before the point-in-time date (see table below). Also, remember to retain a copy of the documents within practice files for a minimum of 6 years.

Remember to include your supporting documents like the following:

We Can Help You

Here at People Medical Consulting, we have a passion for guiding medical practitioners through their career pathways to Australia. We have extensive experience in assisting medical facilities in recruiting doctors from local and overseas who will best suit their requirements.

We provide Document Assistance for those requiring support for their PESCI with IME, ACRRM or RACGP, registration and all other mandatory AHPRA requirements, fellowship program related forms and letters, application for Medicare provider and prescriber numbers, application for 19AB or 19AA exemptions and preparation of employment documents.

If you want to talk to someone about your pathway or practice management—book a consultation with us below, or if you need Recruitment or Document Assistance, contact us at help@peoplemedical.com.au or click the buttons below. We’d be glad to help you!

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Information from this blog has been taken directly from:

Related Blogs

Workforce Incentive Program?
What is the Workforce Incentive Program – Doctor Stream?
What is the Workforce Incentive Program – Rural Advanced Skills Stream?
How Do I Apply for the Workforce Incentive Program?

Categories: Practice

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