Medical Training Review Panel 19th Report

Restrictions of Practice

Section 19AB of the Act restricts access to Medicare provider numbers and requires overseas trained doctors and ‘foreign graduates of an accredited medical school’ (FGAMS) from April 2010 to work in a District of Workforce Shortage (DWS) for a period of ten years from the date of their Australian medical registration in order to access Medicare rebates. This is referred to as the ‘ten year moratorium’.

A DWS is an area in which the general population’s need for health care is considered not to be met. These areas are identified as those that have less access to medical services than the national average. They are determined on the basis of a full-time service equivalent measure, which takes into account latest Medicare billing in the area, irrespective of whether or not local doctors are working in a part-time or a full-time capacity. The DWS determinations for all medical specialities, including general practice, are updated annually.

The DWS status of each area in Australia for general practice, anaesthetics, cardiology, diagnostic radiology, general surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology, ophthalmology, medical oncology and psychiatry is available on the DoctorConnect map.

On 1 July 2010 the Australian Government introduced the scaling initiative as part of the Rural Health Workforce Strategy (RHWS). The scaling initiative allows overseas trained doctors and FGAMS to receive significant reductions in their restriction period under the ten year moratorium if they practice privately within an eligible regional, rural or remote area. The greatest discounts are available to medical practitioners who practise within the most remote locations in Australia. Further advice regarding the scaling initiative is available from the Doctor Connect website.

Table 5.9 shows the cumulative number of overseas trained doctors granted exemptions under section 19AB of the Act. As at 30 June 2015, there were a total of 12,495 exemptions issued to overseas trained doctors. A new table showing trend data back to 2002 (the first year of the reporting these data) has been included in Appendix D.

Table 5.9: Overseas trained doctors with section 19AB exemptions, 2015