Medical students left out of placement payment expansion: The threat to Australia’s GP pipeline
The General Practice Students Network (GPSN) with General Practice Registrars Australia (GPRA) welcome the Federal Government’s decision to extend the Commonwealth Prac Payment (CPP) to a further 10 allied health disciplines.
However, the continued exclusion of medical students from paid placement support is a missed opportunity that will further strain the pipeline of doctors choosing a career in general practice (GP) or rural generalism (RG).
On 23 July 2026, the Australian Government announced a $158.4 million expansion of the CPP, allowing students from a further 10 allied health disciplines access to approximately $338 a week during mandatory placement.
Medicine remains the only major placement-heavy health degree excluded from the program.
Medical students undertake between 2,000 and 4,000 hours of mandatory clinical placement across their degrees, often full-time with little to no capacity to maintain paid work alongside it.
This financial pressure disproportionately affects students who are most likely to choose general practice.
The omission of medical students is particularly consequential for the GP/RG workforce for these reasons:
1. Fuelling under-representation of the medical workforce
Medical Schools Outcomes Database data from 2025 highlights how students from rural backgrounds and those with ‘dependents’ are more likely to choose general practice or rural generalism as a speciality. However, it is these same students who are more likely to experience financial hardship during their mandatory clinical placements, exacerbating barriers that contribute to the under-representation of these students and future GPs/RGs in the medical workforce.
2. Impact on community health
Patients are more likely to trust, and experience better health outcomes with doctors who come from their own community. By omitting medical students from the CPP, the government compounds existing barriers faced by students from low socioeconomic, rural and First Nations backgrounds, deepening their under-representation in the medical workforce, and with it, the risk of poorer health outcomes in the communities that most need doctors who understand them.
3. Rural and community exposure is where GP interest is built
With the Commonwealth’s support for rural placements for domestic medical students now removed, the financial burden of these opportunities falls squarely on students.
This is particularly consequential amid evidence that extended rural rotations – the placement most exposed to this financial hardship – are also the placements most likely to inspire students towards a career in general practice.
Financial strain pushes students toward shorter, metro-based or specialty-aligned placements they can better afford, narrowing their exposure and potential to choosing general practice and rural generalism as a future speciality.
4. GP/RG-bound students are being priced out at the exact moment the workforce needs them most
Australia is facing a projected shortage of GPs over the coming decade, concentrated in rural and outer-metropolitan areas.
The financial disincentives that fall hardest on students from underserved communities directly undermine efforts to grow a locally-connected, rurally distributed GP/RG workforce.
We share these concerns with other key national medical organisations and Colleges.
GPSN and GPRA call on the Australian Government to commit to a timeline for extending CPP eligibility to medical students through a means-tested manner, consistent with the government’s own workforce priorities in general practice and rural health.
Every dollar spent addressing placement poverty is a good investment. But if we want graduates choosing to work in communities that need them most by pursuing general practice or rural generalism, medical students cannot keep being left off the list.
About GPSN: The General Practice Students Network (GPSN) is for medical students interested in general practice. There are over 20 GPSN clubs at university campuses across Australia (gpsn.org.au).
About GPRA: General Practice Registrars Australia (GPRA) is the national independent voice for future GPs in Australia (gpra.org.au).
