Four items from the week to 10 September. Almost half of the overseas-trained GPs joining the specialist register now come through the expedited pathway, which AHPRA and the Medical Board run. NSW Health has drafted rules to vet doctors' outside-hours work, which the doctors' union calls a 'sweeping annual permission regime'. The RACGP's sixth-edition standards make cyber security and AI accreditation criteria, with the assessment date still to be set. And an evaluation of the $3.2 billion urgent care clinics program puts the cost of avoiding one emergency visit at $236, with the AMA pointing to general practice.
Almost half of the overseas-trained GPs joining Australia's specialist register now come through the expedited registration pathway, which AHPRA and the Medical Board run rather than the RACGP's own assessment. Between October 2024 and December 2025, 476 applications were granted, 419 of them GPs. The college's rural chair says nine in ten of these doctors have gone to the cities. For an owner recruiting an international GP, the pathway a candidate arrived through, and the assessment behind it, is worth checking.
New South Wales
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NSW Health has drafted a secondary employment policy that would let it approve, refuse or withdraw doctors' permission to take lawful outside-hours work, including locum, visiting medical officer and private practice roles, each arrangement reviewed at least every two years. ASMOF calls it a 'sweeping annual permission regime' that puts longstanding locum and visiting medical officer arrangements back up for approval, and the AMA and rural doctors warn it will push doctors out of the public system and out of rural towns. A rural GP holding a hospital role alongside a practice is directly in scope.
The RACGP's sixth-edition standards make information security and artificial intelligence accreditation criteria in their own right. A practice needs a tested cyber incident response plan, daily backups with restore checks and a named person responsible for security, and AI use needs documented patient consent, a working opt-out and vendor contracts covering the data. Assessment still runs on the fifth edition with no date set, so owners have a preparation window, and buyers a new diligence list.
An independent evaluation of the Federal Government's $3.2 billion urgent care clinics program puts the cost of avoiding one emergency department visit at $236, and the AMA has told the auditors to weigh that against funding general practice to do the same work. The audit began in March. Where the review comes down shapes whether the next round of primary care money flows to urgent care clinics or to GP practices.
Own a practice and thinking about your exit, this year or in three? Write to kate.marie@mediusglobal.com.au, in confidence.
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