The new workforce incentive payments (WIP) commenced on 1 January 2024 and will provide encouragement for more doctors with advanced skills in Indigenous health to work in ACCHO’s in regional, rural and remote areas (MM3-7 locations).
Eligible General Practitioners with advanced skills in First Nations health can take advantage of the new Workforce Incentives Program. Between $4,000 and $10,500 per year is available for doctors providing these advanced skills services.
The qualifications and/ or training which a GP will require to access this payment for First Nations Health are as follows:
- Advanced Specialised Training in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health (ACRRM).
- Additional Rural Skills Training in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health (RACGP).
- GPs and Rural Generalists with 12 months (full-time/1.0 FTE) or more prior experience (within the last five years) working in an Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation or Aboriginal Medical Service (prior to commencement of assessment period).
- GPs and Rural Generalists with 12 months (full-time/1.0 FTE) or more experience (within the last five years) providing health services (AMS, community or hospital setting) in a community (as defined by Australian Bureau of Statistics Indigenous Areas) where at least 70% of the population are First Nations people (prior to commencement of assessment period). See Section 7.1 (List of Eligible Indigenous Areas) in the WIP Rural Advanced Skills Guidelines.