IMG Colleagues: I have you back International medical graduates are central to Australian general practice. Across the country, particularly in rural and regional communities. Yet too often, Australia treats them as a workforce solution rather than as colleagues whose skills, careers and families deserve proper support. If we want IMGs to build long and successful...
2026 RACGP Presidential Campaign Material
From the Clinic to the CollegeLatest News & Announcements
Backing every GP is not a new priority for me As a GP, practice owner, educator, employer of registrars and through my work with Joint Colleges Training Services, I have seen our workforce challenges from different sides. General practice is deeply rewarding, but the system around it is becoming harder to sustain. The RACGP’s Health...
Digital health will fundamentally reshape general practice. Used well, technology can reduce administrative work, connect information, improve access to expertise and give us more time with patients. Used poorly, it can create new silos, transfer more risk onto practices and weaken the clinical relationships that hold our health system together. I am optimistic about what...
What is at stake with fragmentation and pharmacy prescribing Continuity is one of general practice’s greatest strengths. Yet healthcare policy is increasingly favouring short-term access and political and commercial interests over comprehensive, continuous care. Too often, reforms are announced through political agreements before proper clinical scrutiny, consultation or evaluation. Expanded pharmacy prescribing and diagnosis remain...
My full position on general practice funding, and what I will fight for as RACGP President. General practice gets short changed every year Australia needs a funding model that does not short-change general practice every financial year. It must properly index patient Medicare rebates, value longer and more complex consultations, and recognise the true cost...
The latest patient Medicare rebate indexation of just 2.6% once again fails to reflect the true cost of healthcare and leaves patients out of pocket or forces clinics to unceremoniously close. Remember, rebates are for the patient, who pay premiums through the Medicare levy. But the Government has rather successfully positioned it as how GPs...
Commonwealth paid prac, a missed opportunity The Australian Government’s decision to expand the Commonwealth Prac Payment to students in ten additional health professions is welcome. The payment is currently up to $338.60 per week, indexed annually and benchmarked to the single Austudy rate. It recognises that compulsory placements can force students to reduce paid employment...
Research published in the Australian Journal of Rural Health, published in March 2026, identified significant gaps in access to community pharmacies across Australia. Researchers Michael Leach and Emily Griffin examined more than 6,000 pharmacies and found low pharmacy density in remote communities, regional areas and parts of outer Melbourne and Perth. As a GP...
“Americanisation” was a quick and effective distraction hitting the media this week. The real story is a protected pharmacy ownership lobby seeking greater control over diagnosis, prescribing and dispensing, with general practice expected to absorb the consequences. The Pharmacy Guild of Australia saw the threat quickly. The Grattan Institute report had put a spotlight on...
Today, I am humbled to announce my intention to stand for the upcoming RACGP Presidential election. General practice has shaped who I am as a doctor, a leader and a person. I understand the pressures facing our profession because I live them every day: as a specialist GP, practice owner, educator and advocate. I know...
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the lands on which we work throughout Australia. We pay our respects to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders past and present and recognise their continuing connection to land, waters, and community.
© 2026 Dr Ramya Raman