A big welcome to any new members who have joined GPRA this month as you start on your GP speciality training journey, either by commencing in GP training for Semester 2 or having just Fellowed.
Firstly, I would like to thank you all for engaging and participating with GPRA and our activities. GPRA is 20,000 members strong, and we represent 21 medical clubs across Australia, future GPs in prevocational training places, GP registrars and new Fellows.
This month will see me meeting with GPRA’s Advisory Council once again. The GPRA Advisory Council is representative of GP registrars (Registrar Liaison Officers (RLOs)) across Australia training under both Colleges. The Council is an important way I get to hear the issues that are impacting you day to day. The Advisory Council is an independent body highlighting issues that are jurisdictional specific – i.e. in their own local area. RLOs are a key resource for GP registrars regardless of your pathway, so I encourage you to reach out to them in your state so they can represent you at GPRA’s Advisory Council (see RACGP’s RLO list and ACRRM’s RLO list for contact details).
Behind the scenes, I continue to advocate for the reinstatement of the Australian Medicines Handbook (AMH) as a resource, which continues to be an important matter for registrars across the country. We hope our advocacy on your behalf to have it re-introduced sees results soon.
Additionally, I am engaging with members on your behalf across key priority areas such as base rate parity for the GP speciality, single employment models and/or other alternative employment terms and conditions as well as peer to peer support initiatives and impact of payroll tax on general practice. Importantly GPRA has stated that we strongly support the work of the Kruk report as we represent IMGs – read my opinion piece here.
This month took our CEO Jo-anne Chapman and myself to the beautiful Top End to meet with our members and sector partners. I am happy to inform you that GPRA will be continuing to administer scholarships to support GP registrars from 2024. It’s an exciting period for our work in the Territory, with GPRA planning to deliver a range of other registrar support initiatives for NT registrars in the future. We look forward to consulting with our members to ensure we continue to play a role to attract and support future GPs in the NT and beyond. Stay tuned for more details!
Thanks again for your GPRA membership.
