The Rural Retention Program is a Commonwealth Government initiative that aims to
recognise and retain long-serving general practitioners (GPs) in rural and remote
communities with a high relative need for retention support.
Encouraging such GPs to continue practising in these communities will contribute
to better access, continuity in medical care and better health outcomes in rural
and remote Australia.
The program was developed in close consultation with the Rural Doctors Association
of Australia and other key organisations, and has two parts:
Administered by Medicare Australia (formerly the Health Insurance Commission) which
assesses eligibility based on Medicare data on doctors' services and locations.
Administered by state-based Rural Workforce Agencies (RWAs). It assists long-serving
providers of primary medical care not adequately catered for by the Central Payments
System because their services are not adequately taken into account (where services
are provided outside Medicare or a period of acceptability leave has caused accrued
eligibility to be lost).