Retention Programs
Flexible Payments System
The Rural Retention Program is a Australian Government initiative that provides financial support to long-serving general practitioners in rural and remote communities that experience significant difficulties in retaining general practitioners.
The major component of the program is the payment of an annual Central Payments System (CPS) grant to long-serving general practitioners in rural and remote communities administered by the Health Insurance Commission (HIC) using Medicare data.
The other component of the program is a Flexible Payments System (FPS) administered in WA by Rural Health West. The FPS caters for rural doctors who meet the CPS criteria of longevity of service in a country area, depending on its remoteness and the hours worked but who are not covered fully by Medicare data.
You may be eligible for an FPS payment if you are:
• a salaried doctor providing primary health care in the north west of WA
• a RFDS doctor living in rural WA
• an AMS doctor in the more remote parts of the state, or
• a private practitioner who has taken more than six months off for upskilling.
For more information, email Val Ducie or telephone (08) 6389 4500, or visit the Rural Retention Program website.











