General Practice Incentives & How To Get Them

Joannah 03/04/2024

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Date Updated: 2026-09-08

There are a lot of incentives that you might not be aware of in general practice, so we compiled them all here for you to check!

We have also listed the GP and General Practice Incentives per MM location which you can check here.

Workforce Incentive Program

It is an initiative created by the Australian Government with the goal of strengthening the access to medical services in rural and remote areas of Australia. The program provides financial benefits to support health professionals working in the locations needed and help general practices with the cost of employing health professionals.

There are 3 Workforce Incentive Program (WIP) streams, specifically the Practice Stream, the Doctor Stream, and the Rural Advanced Skills Stream.

Workforce Incentive Program – Practice Stream

This offers financial incentives to practices and helps them with the cost of employing nurses, allied health professionals, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers and health practitioners.

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

Workforce Incentive Program – Doctor Stream

This gives financial incentives to medical practitioners working in eligible rural and remote areas. Please note that starting from 1 January 2024, Non-VR doctors, who are not on any approved training program and who are working in a MM3-7 location, will obtain 80% of the value of WIP – Doctor Stream payments.

To apply for the Workforce Incentive Program – Doctor Stream, the process depends if you will apply for:

If you are a Doctor who bills the MBS for eligible services regularly, you can receive the incentive through CPS with no application needed, only your bank account details.

For FPS, you must apply and submit it to the Rural Workforce Agency (RWA) in the state or territory where you provided most of your services or did your training. You can see the FPS application form and more details about the FPS application guide here.

Workforce Incentive Program – Rural Advanced Skills Stream

This provides financial incentives to doctors working in primary care and using advanced skills working across a range of other settings, encouraging them to work in regional, rural and remote areas.

You can apply to this stream by sending separate applications to Stream 1: Emergency Medicine and Stream 2: Advanced Skills payments here:

GP Training Incentives

There are incentives for GP and Rural Generalist (RG) registrars under the AGPT or RVTS programs, specifically:

  • $30,000 salary incentive when they commence their first core training term in community-based primary care,
  • Up to 5 days study leave incentive per training year, and
  • Up to 20 weeks parental leave incentive.

You can apply through your training provider below:

You can find out more details about the incentive payments in the GP Training Incentive Payments page here.

Pre-Fellowship Program Incentives


IMPORTANT: “Not all eligible doctors will receive financial support. The distribution of funding to support PFP participants will be prioritised by RWAs,” according to the guidelines.

If you’re under the Pre-Fellowship Program (PFP) and an International Medical Graduate (IMG) with Limited or Provisional Registration, you will have access to financial support for learning & development (L&D) and supervision. The chart below shows the L&D financial support.

If you’re a supervisor who is overseeing an IMG with Limited or Provisional Registration, you will receive a payment from PFP. 

Under the PFP, if the practice is in a small rural area that has doctors with level 1 supervision, then they may also receive support through additional supervision payments. 

For supervision, the financial support of supervisors and small rural practices will be based on the level of supervision and location as seen in the chart below.

Read more about the Pre-Fellowship Program here.

Fellowship Support Program Supervisor Incentives

If you’re a supervisor overseeing a Fellowship Support Program (FSP) registrar, you can get $150 + GST and super per hour for supervision of each FSP registrar. 

You can also receive $150 + GST and super per end of term report.

Read more about the Fellowship Support Program here.

General Practice in Aged Care Incentive 

The General Practice in Aged Care Incentive helps elderly individuals in aged care homes receive quality medical care from their usual GPs. With the following incentives, this encourages practices and GPs to visit regularly, plan check-ups, and coordinate care to ensure the residents stay healthy:

  • $300 per patient, per year (75 per patient, per quarter), paid to the Responsible Provider.
  • $130 per patient, per year ($32.50 per patient, per quarter), paid to the practice.
  • Rural Loading:
    • MM 3 – 20%
    • MM 4 – 30%
    • MM 5 – 30%
    • MM 6 – 50%
    • MM 7 – 50%

You can apply and register for this incentive through the MyMedicare program. Read more about it in our blog here.

Practice Incentives Program

The Practice Incentive Program (PIP) supports doctors and practices by giving them incentives to help them provide better care and make healthcare easier to get. It’s run by Services Australia for the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing (DoHDA).

There are 2 payment streams under PIP (to practices and to individual health professionals), and 7 individual incentives focusing on after hours, eHealth, indigenous health, procedural GP, quality improvement, rural loading, and teaching.

You can apply online through HPOS using your PRODA account or apply with the Practice Incentives application form (IP001) which you can read more about both here.

Bulk Billing Practice Incentive Program (BBPIP)

From 1 November 2025:

  • Eligibility for Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) bulk billing incentives (BBIs) will be expanded to all Medicare-eligible patients (currently only children under 16 and Commonwealth concession card holders are eligible).
  • The Bulk Billing Practice Incentive Program (BBPIP) will be introduced.

Here are some key notes to BBPIP:

  • Practices participating in BBPIP will receive an additional quarterly 12.5% incentive payment on every $1 of the MBS benefits paid from eligible services, split evenly between the GP and the practice. 
  • Participating practices must bulk bill every eligible service for every Medicare-eligible patient, to receive the BBPIP incentive payment. This incentive payment will be in addition to Medicare benefits and MBS BBIs.
  • Participation in BBPIP is voluntary.

You can read the full BBPIP guidelines here and see more BBIP resources here.

Rural Locum Assistance Program 

Rural Locum Assistance Program (RLAP) focuses on locum support in MM 2-7 locations, specifically for fees on travel, accommodation, and locum incentives. You can read more about it and apply here.

General Practitioner Procedural Training Support Program

The General Practitioner Procedural Training Support Program (GPPTSP) is an optional and competitive scholarship program in MM 3-7 locations that offers $40,000 per applicant who completed training, for up to 10 GP Fellows to obtain an Advanced Certificate in Rural Generalist Anaesthesia (RGA), and up to 10 GP Fellows to attain the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG) Associate Training Program (Advanced Procedural) (APTP).

Read more about the General Practitioner Procedural Training Support Program and apply here.

Premium Support Scheme

The Premium Support Scheme (PSS) supports eligible medical practitioners by reducing the costs of their medical indemnity insurance, specifically for those in MM 3-7 locations.

Read more about the Premium Support Scheme and apply here.

Rural Procedural Grants Program

The Rural Procedural Grants Program (RPGP) provides financial support to procedural GPs in MM 3-7 areas so they can attend relevant continuing professional development (CPD) activities, specifically:

  • Procedural skills – up to $20,000 per year
  • Emergency medicine – up to $6,000 per year
  • Emergency mental health – up to $6,000 per year

Read more about the RPGP, and apply here through ACRRM or apply here through RACGP. Please note that you can only be registered with one college (ACRRM or RACGP) at a time.

Support for Rural Specialists in Australia Program

The Support for Rural Specialists in Australia Program helps specialists in rural and remote Australia access educational opportunities through online learning programs, and grants to access training not available in their hometown with up to $10,000 funding. 

You can read more about the Support for Rural Specialists in Australia Program and apply here.

Australian Government GrantConnect

The Australian government has compiled all of the grants in the GrantConnect website where you can filter out the current grant opportunities available. 

You can check the grants and apply here:

ACRRM

For ACRRM Fellows, you can access the available grants and apply here:

RACGP

RACGP has various available grants that you can check and apply here:

Local Primary Health Network (PHNs) and Rural Workforce Agencies (RWA)

Local Primary Health Network (PHNs) may also have grants available for you. You can check your local PHN in the map locator, or see their contact details. 

Here’s a list of the PHN websites for each state to see if they have available grants for you:

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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FAQs

Workforce Incentive Program
What is the Workforce Incentive Program – Practice Stream?
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?
What is the “General Practice in Aged Care” Incentive?
GP and General Practice Incentives per MM location

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