Moving to Australia as a UK GP

At a glance

National registration does not settle local Medicare access

Ahpra registration is your permission to practise medicine, subject to any conditions. It is not permission to bill Medicare, Australia’s public health insurance scheme. A Medicare provider number is linked to a practice location; it lets eligible services you provide there attract a patient rebate. Section 19AB (opens in a new tab) restricts access to those rebates for some overseas-trained doctors. For a GP, an exemption is commonly linked to work in a Distribution Priority Area (DPA): an area identified as needing more GPs. Ask Services Australia to assess your circumstances and the clinic’s exact address; an exemption at one clinic does not automatically transfer to another.

Clinic billing policy, appointment length, support and payment terms also vary. Assess the practice offer as carefully as the country-wide pathway.

From ST3 to your first supervised months

1. 01Check MRCGP + CCT eligibility
2. 02Choose a practice and check its location
3. 03Prepare qualification verification
4. 04Apply to Ahpra with a supervised practice plan
5. 05Arrange work authorisation
6. 06Confirm Medicare eligibility and provider number
7. 07Arrange indemnity and induction
8. 08Begin supervised practice

The steps can overlap; the numbered route is an orientation, not a promised application order or processing time. Confirm dependencies with each agency and the proposed clinic.

Registration and supervised practice

The accepted-qualification list (opens in a new tab) includes MRCGP together with CCT from qualifying UK GP training under RCGP curricula from August 2007. It excludes the CCT Combined Training Pathway. Check the exact evidence Ahpra requests, including confirmation of specialist or GP training from the GMC where applicable.

Primary-source verification (opens in a new tab) means the awarding institution confirms a qualification is genuine. For this pathway, the AMC coordinates verification of your primary medical degree through its ECFMG-linked process; specialist qualification evidence is submitted directly to Ahpra. Check the two organisations’ current document lists before paying for uploads: the medical degree, MRCGP and CCT do not necessarily go through the same channel.

Under the Medical Board’s pathway (opens in a new tab), the Board grants specialist registration with conditions, including an approved supervised position and practice plan. You can begin work only when registration and the position are approved. The pathway requires six months of supervised practice, orientation to the Australian health system, cultural safety education and workplace assessments before you can seek removal of the conditions.

College fellowship is a separate matter. Ask the relevant college about fellowship if you want it; the accepted route is a direct registration application to Ahpra.

Allow for several separate costs

Check the current Ahpra fee schedule (opens in a new tab) for application and registration charges. Add any AMC/verification charges, identity and professional-standing documents, police or health checks, visa charges, indemnity, travel and household relocation. Ask the clinic which items it will pay or reimburse and whether repayment clauses apply.

Registration is not a work visa

Check your own immigration position separately from Ahpra registration. An employer may nominate an eligible doctor for the Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482) (opens in a new tab), subject to the current sponsorship, occupation, skills and English requirements. The former Temporary Skill Shortage visa name is obsolete. Other visas may be relevant to individual circumstances.

A job offer or medical registration does not guarantee a visa or permanent residence. Use current Home Affairs guidance and qualified immigration advice for your application.

Finding a clinic and checking the contract

Approach clinics directly or use a recruiter to identify openings and coordinate paperwork. Neither route tells you whether the clinic is a good fit. Ask to speak with a GP already working there, request a sample appointment template and obtain the contract terms in writing. Confirm whether you would be an employee with an agreed wage and leave entitlements, or a contractor whose income depends on the services billed and the clinic’s service fee.

Questions to ask before accepting

• Is this location eligible for my Medicare access or section 19AB exemption?
• Who will supervise me, and has the supervised position and plan been approved?
• Am I an employee or contractor, and how is the arrangement documented?
• What is the billing policy, service fee, and treatment of incentives and non-Medicare work?
• Which rooms, nurses, reception, software and consumables are included in the service fee?
• How long are appointments, and who handles results, letters, referrals and follow-up?
• Is there a minimum patient volume, hours commitment or after-hours obligation?
• Who pays for indemnity, registration, supervision, visa and relocation?
• How are leave, illness, superannuation and professional development handled?
• Are there minimum-term, relocation repayment or restraint clauses?

Billings are not a salary

Australia’s Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) gives an eligible consultation an item number and a Medicare benefit (also called a rebate). The clinic’s fee and the Medicare benefit are different amounts. The patient’s “gap” is the difference they pay when the clinic charges more than the benefit (opens in a new tab).

Do not confuse the patient’s gap with a clinic service fee. If you work as a contractor, the clinic may take an agreed percentage of your billings in exchange for rooms, reception, nursing, software and other services. That deduction is from your revenue, not an extra Medicare charge to the patient. Ask exactly which receipts it applies to, including incentives and non-Medicare work.

1. Gross clinical billings
2. Minus clinic service fee
3. Minus professional expenses
4. Income before tax and retirement saving

The flow is for comparing a contractor offer, not predicting earnings. Ask for a written example using the clinic’s actual billing mix, service-fee percentage, hours and leave arrangements. An employee’s wage and entitlements are different. The minimum superannuation guarantee is 12% (opens in a new tab) as of this review, but some contractors paid mainly for their labour may also be entitled to employer contributions (opens in a new tab). Super is retirement saving, roughly analogous to a pension contribution; an Australian Business Number (ABN) does not settle your entitlement by itself.

Estimate billings after the clinic fee

This calculator turns an expected diary and billing mix into an annual illustration. It deliberately separates gross billings, the amount left after the clinic service fee, and an amount after your own tax assumption.

What will the working day actually involve?

Ask to see a real appointment template rather than assuming an NHS-style session. How long is a standard booked consultation? Is time blocked for results, prescriptions, referral letters and care plans? Does a nurse take observations or give immunisations, and which tasks stay with the GP? Ask who owns each test result, hospital letter, recall and missed follow-up, and where the action is recorded in the practice software.

Care plans, mental health and work injuries

Also ask about aged-care visits, PBS prescribing, insurance reports and other non-Medicare paperwork where relevant to the proposed role.

Prepare to start, then learn the local system

Set up PRODA (your digital identity) and use it to access HPOS (the health-professional online portal) (opens in a new tab). Eligible doctors use HPOS to apply for initial Medicare provider and PBS prescriber numbers. The provider number is location-specific; confirm its approval and your eligibility for that exact clinic before anyone submits Medicare claims (opens in a new tab). The prescriber number is for Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) subsidised prescriptions, not consultation billing.

Ask for the practice’s results and recall policy, software training, local referral contacts, escalation plan and supervision timetable before your first clinic. Record what you learn during the first month and raise workflow gaps with your supervisor.

Short glossary

Ahpra / Medical Board

Ahpra administers the national register of health practitioners; the Medical Board of Australia sets doctors’ registration requirements. Think of this as the registration layer, broadly comparable to the GMC, not permission to claim Medicare payments.

AMC / primary-source verification

The Australian Medical Council coordinates a check of your primary medical degree with the institution that awarded it. For this expedited route, specialist qualification evidence goes directly to Ahpra.

RACGP / FRACGP

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and its fellowship. An accepted UK qualification can support direct application to Ahpra; fellowship is a separate matter.

MBS item / Medicare benefit

The Medicare Benefits Schedule gives an eligible service an item number and a benefit (rebate) amount. The amount Medicare pays is not necessarily the fee a clinic charges.

Provider number

The location-specific identifier that allows an eligible doctor’s services to attract Medicare benefits. Registration with Ahpra alone does not provide one.

PRODA / HPOS

Provider Digital Access is your online identity; Health Professional Online Services is the portal you enter with it to manage Medicare-related services, including provider-number applications.

Section 19AB / DPA

Section 19AB restricts Medicare benefits for some overseas-trained doctors. A Distribution Priority Area is an identified GP workforce-shortage location that may support an exemption; the exemption is assessed for the specific practice location.

Bulk billing / patient gap

Bulk billing means Medicare pays the doctor directly and the patient pays nothing for that service. With private billing, a gap is the part of the clinic’s fee that the Medicare benefit does not cover, paid by the patient.

Clinic service fee

A separate charge the clinic may take from a contractor GP’s billings for rooms, staff and other agreed services. It is not the patient’s gap payment.

GPCCMP

A GP chronic condition management plan: a documented plan for an eligible person with a long-term condition, with its own MBS rules for preparation, review and allied-health referrals.

ABN / super

An Australian Business Number identifies a business; superannuation is retirement saving. Having an ABN does not by itself decide whether a clinic must contribute to your super.

Workers’ compensation

Cover for work-related injury, run through state, territory or Commonwealth schemes. Its certificates, insurer processes and fees are separate from ordinary Medicare consultations.

Before accepting, before day one, first month

Use these as prompts, then confirm the formal order with Ahpra, Services Australia, Home Affairs and your proposed clinic. Ticks are temporary.

Before accepting an offer

• Is this location eligible for my Medicare access or section 19AB exemption?
• Who will supervise me, and has the supervised position and plan been approved?
• Am I an employee or contractor, and how is the arrangement documented?
• What is the billing policy, service fee, and treatment of incentives and non-Medicare work?
• Which rooms, nurses, reception, software and consumables are included in the service fee?
• How long are appointments, and who handles results, letters, referrals and follow-up?

Before your first day

• Confirm Ahpra registration, approved supervised position and practice plan
• Confirm visa or other work rights and the proposed start date
• Confirm Medicare eligibility, any section 19AB exemption, and provider number for this location before billing
• Set up PRODA/HPOS access and check PBS prescriber-number arrangements
• Arrange professional indemnity and any required business/tax registrations
• Ask for software access, local referral contacts, result-handling policy and induction timetable

First week and month

• Meet the supervisor, practice nurses, reception team and local referral partners
• Agree how to escalate clinical uncertainty and document supervised practice
• Learn the practice’s billing, MBS, results, recall and medicines workflows
• Check the state or territory workers’ compensation forms used locally
• Complete required health-system orientation and cultural safety education