A record number of junior doctors are training to be GPs next year but industry leaders say it’s still not enough to fix the national shortage.
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) said the 2025 intake of trainee GPs reached capacity for the first time in years, jumping by nearly 20 per cent compared to 2024.
Next year, 1504 doctors will be given specialist training through the college however RACGP warned there’s still a catastrophic shortage across the country.
“This 20 per cent growth in GPs in training is a sign the GP workforce is recovering. But it can’t be taken as a sign the job is done,” RACGP president Dr Nicole Higgins said.
“The story we’ve been told, and that we’ve often told each other as GPs, is one of general practice in decline. These training results show us we can turn that around with the right investments, because funding general practice gets results.”
The RACGP trains 90 per cent of Australia’s GP including doctors in crucial rural areas and Indigenous communities.
Higgins called on the government to invest in the sector to tackle the ongoing GP shortage.
“We’ve shown we can train more GPs, and we’ve shown we can get GPs to the communities who need them most, including rural and regional communities,” she said. “We just need the funding to sustain this growth.”
Higgins said Australians need GPs for the health sector to thrive.
“The trust and relationship we form with patients gives our work meaning, and the depth and breadth of what we know as GPs makes it a really satisfying career,” she said.
“That breadth and depth, and those relationships, makes serving as a GP different to other specialists and other health workers.
“It’s why there’s no substitute for a GP who knows you and your medical history.”
The Australian GP community is also asking for a target of 50 per cent of medical graduates training as GPs and a significant boost to Medicare rebates.
A workforce report from The Department of Health and Aged Care in August showed Australia is facing a shortage of 2460 full-time GPs.
The report predicted the figure is set to double with national shortages forecast to grow to 5560 by 2033.
