Wishing you a safe and happy festive season

With just a few weeks until the festive break, I have been reflecting on everything we’ve achieved together this year. Across Australia, we have delivered training to 6081 registrars across 13,656 placements with the support of 3045 supervisors and 2233 training practices. We welcomed the North Queensland training team to the RACGP and now deliver a truly national AGPT Program. Together, we have provided important general practice services to communities across Australia, including rural and remote areas of workforce need. 

This year we’ve also focused on improving the support and resources available to our registrars and training teams, launching the National Registrar Wellbeing Program and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural and Health Framework. We look forward to building on this work in 2025, listening to your feedback and making ongoing improvements across the training program.  

We are excited to be welcoming more than 1500 new registrars next year. This is the first time that all AGPT places have been filled in years and is 20% higher than in 2024. We are also pleased to see a 17% increase in rural placements from 492 in 2024 to 583 in 2025. This is a great result for communities in our rural and remote areas. 

I’d like to thank you for helping make GP training a success. We couldn’t do it without the support of our supervisors and practice teams, as well as the commitment and engagement of our registrars.  

Have a very safe and happy festive season, and we look forward to continuing training together in the new year. 

Sue Hefren 
Acting Chief GP Training Officer 

Clarification of SPD requirements

In response to feedback regarding supervisor professional development (SPD), we would like to clarify that the stipend hours are not a minimum requirement for accreditation. The SPD stipend is a capped payment made to training sites based on the anticipated number of hours the training site supervisory team will complete every six months. We anticipate the need for SPD will vary with the number of registrars. This is why the stipend is greater as the number of registrars at the training site increases.    

Failure to complete the anticipated number of hours may result in pausing of the stipend payment but will not impact accreditation. The requirement for accreditation is that all supervisors undertake some SPD over the three-year accreditation cycle.  

The SPD document has been updated to make this clearer, and can be found in the training management system or on our website under Resources for supervisors. 

Submit your training activity claims by 20 December

A reminder to please submit any outstanding 2024 training activity claims, including invoices for ECTVs or travel to supervisor professional development events, by Friday 20 December. Claim forms are available in the training management system under Forms, Documents and Links. If you have any questions about this process, please reach out to your training coordinator.

Multi-source feedback due date extension

All registrars enrolled in multi-source feedback (MSF) in 2024.2 have been granted an extension to complete their feedback surveys before 7 February 2025. 

We appreciate it’s been a busy time, and hope that this extension allows your registrar to gain the full benefits of receiving thoughtful and valuable feedback from their colleagues and patients. 

If there are any issues with patients or colleagues accessing the survey, please call CFEP directly on (07) 3855 2093 between 9:00 am – 5:00 pm AEST (Qld time) Monday – Friday and the team will be able to help! 

GPiT Wellbeing Committee Report

The 2024 GPs in Training Wellbeing Committee’s Report outlines this year’s key achievements, including: 

• advocacy for the Every Doctor, Every Setting Framework
• improvements to training programs  
• ​the launch of the National Registrar Wellbeing Program Working Group.

These initiatives are designed to support the ongoing professional growth of general practitioners and ensure a positive and supportive training experience. The report provides valuable insights into the committee’s impact and its continued focus on enhancing the AGPT Program. 

We invite you to take a look at the report, explore our priorities and be a part of the positive changes shaping the future of general practice. 

End-of-year RACGP shutdown period

The RACGP offices will close on Monday 23 December 2024 (end of day) and will reopen on Thursday 2 January 2025 as we observe the holiday season. If you have an urgent matter that requires immediate assistance during this time, please contact our National Contact Centre on 1800 472 247. Essential staff will be available to support you on the 27, 28 and 29 of December.  

We look forward to assisting you with non-urgent inquiries from 2 January 2025 when the office re-opens. We appreciate your understanding.   

Changes to the FSP and AGPT Program eligibility and selection process

From 2025.2, we’re making important updates to the Australian General Practice Training (AGPT) Program and the Fellowship Support Program (FSP) eligibility and selection process.  

The changes will simplify the application processes and ensure prospective candidates have equitable access to training opportunities. The updates reflect our ongoing commitment to delivering high-quality training programs that meet the evolving needs of both GPs and communities.    

 For further information, please visit our website: 

• AGPT Program  
• FSP  

Supervision requirements and registrar training activities for 2025.1

We've developed a summary of supervision requirements, registrar training activities, timelines and helpful resources for the upcoming semester. Specific requirements for each training stage are outlined for easy reference.    

To access the documents, log in to the training management system and click on Quick Links and Subscriptions on the top toolbar. The 2025.1 registrar training activities can be viewed by selecting Registrar Training Requirements from the drop-down list. The 2025.1 supervision requirements can be viewed by selecting Supervisor Requirements (see image below). 

Please note the AGPT Program update newsletters will resume in February 2025. 

Contact us

For any queries about the information enclosed, please contact your local training team.