There are not enough general practitioners to meet the growing healthcare needs of Australians, a government report has warned, with a shortfall of more than 5000 expected in the next decade.
In 2023 39,449 GPs provided primary care services through Medicare, an increase of 2,533 GPs (including specialist GPs and trainees) since 2018 but “insufficient” to cope with future demands, the report found.
Australia’s ageing population and higher incidences of chronic diseases are “placing strain on both the health system and our current GP workforce,” the report, titled ‘Supply and demand study of general practitioners in Australia’, said.
“Not enough of our Australian medical graduates are choosing general practice as a career,” the report said.
“We also know there is an issue with how GPs are distributed across the country, particularly impacting rural, regional, and remote areas.
“Although the number of new GPs joining the workforce is gradually rising, it is not sufficient to match the rate at which GPs are leaving the workforce.”
Between 2018 and 2023, GPs who obtained their initial medical qualification overseas grew at a faster rate (2.2%) compared with Australia or New Zealand-trained graduates (0.7%), the report found. Over the same period, the proportion of GPs aged 65 and over increased from 14.2% to 15.7%.
Australian Medical Association (AMA) president Prof Steve Robson said the government must increase efforts to grow the GP workforce.
“When patients are unwell, general practice is their first point of call in our health system and this report highlights the problems that many patients encounter when trying to access GP care,” Robson said.
“We need to rebuild the GP workforce, which must start with training more GPs and supporting them to work in areas of need. This requires a comprehensive policy approach that starts with medical school and expanded access to clinical placements in general practice.”
Australia is short about 2,460 full-time equivalent GPs, with the report predicting this will rise to 5,560 by 2033.
It comes as GPs descended on the parliament of Tasmania on Tuesday to call for action to address clinic closures cross the state.
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners wants funding to attract 20 overseas-trained specialist doctors to Tasmania.
RACGP Tasmania chair Dr Toby Gardner said: “We need long-term solutions.”
“Tasmania only has around 106 GPs per 100,000 people, well below the national average of 119. This is contributing to our state’s longer than average wait times at the emergency department – and why that’s gotten significantly worse in the last 10 years.”
