All Australians Deserve Access to a GP

In 2019, Cornerstone Health commissioned Deloitte Access Economics to prepare the ‘General Practitioner Workforce Report’. The report found that under the policy settings at that time, there was projected to be a shortfall of 9,298 full-time GPs (24.7% of the GP workforce) by 2030. The deficiency of GPs was predicted to be most extreme in urban areas with a shortfall of 7,535 full-time GPs (31.7%) by 2030.

At the time Cornerstone Health called on the government to implement the right policy settings and incentives to encourage doctors to practice in areas of unmet need, including outer metropolitan areas, where Australia's highest population growth is occurring.

The shortfall can start to be addressed by re-classifying outer-metropolitan areas as areas of unmet need and increasing funding for general practice. For the last two years, General Practitioners have been the frontline of the pandemic, delivering healthcare to Australians when most other options weren’t available.

However, it’s never been harder to access a GP when you need to. Almost 1 in 5 Australians feel they wait longer than they should to see a GP.

No more than 7% of the total healthcare budget is allocated to General Practice. If more funding isn’t allocated to General Practice immediately, it will be even harder for Australians to see a GP when they need to.

If you agree, that the Australian Government needs to increase funding for General Practice so all Australians can access a GP when they need to, please sign and share our petition.