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Strong rural growth sees 530 more GPs training in NSW, but state still 'playing catchup' in too many regions: RACGP

Royal Australian College of GPs

Rural NSW patients will have easier access to general practice care following strong growth in the number of GPs training in the Commonwealth-funded Australian GP Training (AGPT) Program with the Royal Australian College of GPs (RACGP).

However, Australia’s leading medical training college has warned more investment is still needed to improve rural health equity.

In 2026, 530 future GPs have commenced training in NSW, 27% more than in 2025. Of these:

• 255 on an AGPT rural training pathway will spend all three years of their training in regional, rural, or remote areas, an 88.8% increase on 2025
• 203 on a general pathway will train in metropolitan areas, with at least 12 months in an outer metropolitan, rural, or non-capital city region, or an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health training post
• 72 on a composite pathway will train for at least six months in a specific region of need like Western NSW, New England, or Murrumbidgee
• 102, or 19.2% of the cohort, will train as Rural Generalists (RGs), a subspecialty of general practice which includes an extra year of training in emergency medicine and hospital disciplines rural communities need.

Despite substantial growth in the number of GPs training on a rural pathway, some rural areas, including the Western NSW and New England/North West GP training subregions, continue to experience challenges.

RACGP NSW&ACT Chair Dr Rebekah Hoffman said the figures show doctors will move to train as GPs in areas of need, but urged governments to better incentivise training in underserved areas.

“We’re training more GPs than ever before, but we’re still below training capacity,” she said.

“New South Wales can and should be training more specialist GPs. We were able to make a specialist GP training offer to a junior doctor at every training post, but not every offer was accepted.

“What that shows us is that more training incentives could get more GPs where they are needed.

“Research has found 30% of specialist GPs stayed where they did their training, versus 10% of other specialists. GP incentives are a long-term investment in our rural communities.”

A further 268 eligible doctors applied to train as GPs in NSW – three for every two available AGPT places – indicating that with targeted incentives, more Commonwealth-funded AGPT places, and support for GP supervisors in NSW, the RACGP can train more specialist GPs in more communities.

“The more future doctors experience the opportunities rural general practice offers, the better the workforce outcomes,” Dr Hoffman said.

“That starts at university. Research has shown students who participated in a 12-week placement in a small rural town were around three times more likely to work in a similar-sized community after graduating.

“The University of New England and Charles Sturt University have excellent medical schools, and their regions need GPs. We know what works – we just need to leverage these opportunities.”

Nationally, 1772 doctors are training to become specialist GPs on the RACGP’s AGPT program, 19% more than 2025.

RACGP President Dr Michael Wright said the increase was driven by Federal Government investment, with the strong rural growth reflecting the College’s priority to train GPs in the communities which need them.

“We’ve worked with the Federal Government and health department to fill all available Australian GP Training Program places, for the second year in a row,” he said.

“The astounding 44% growth in future specialist GPs training on a rural pathway confirms what we’ve said consistently – investment in general practice leads to real outcomes.

“But we shouldn’t stop there. It takes 10 years to train a GP. Workforce planning must align with this cycle to reduce reliance on overseas-trained doctors.

“Australia needs more specialist GPs, and the RACGP is ready and willing to train them.”

Among the 530 future GPs training in the RACGP’s NSW training regions:

• 102 will train in the RACGP’s Lower Eastern NSW (Central, Eastern & South Western Sydney) subregion
• 87 in the Lower Eastern NSW (South Eastern) subregion
• 78 in the North Eastern NSW (Hunter, Manning & Central Coast) subregion
• 103 in the North Eastern NSW (Nepean, Western & Northern Sydney) subregion
• 22 in the North Eastern NSW (New England/North West) subregion
• 73 in the North Eastern NSW (North Coast) subregion
• 27 in the Western NSW & ACT (Murrumbidgee & ACT) subregion, excluding the ACT
• 38 in the Western NSW & ACT (Western NSW) subregion.

~ENDS

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