Small rural towns will attract subsidies of up to $60,000 to attract and keep doctors in a massive win from News Corp Australia’s Health the Bush campaign.
In a Robin Hood style overhaul of the botched $113 million General Practice Rural Incentive Payment Scheme, doctors in 14 large towns like Cairns will be stripped of subsidies.
The money saved from enticing doctors to large coastal towns will instead be put towards much larger subsidies to attract doctors to tiny towns like Gundagai, Kingaroy, Echuca and Northam.
Under a revamp of the scheme to be announced by Assistant Minister for Health Fiona Nash on Sunday, subsidies for towns with a population of less than 5,000 will jump by between $4,000 and $13,000 a year.
Doctors in the tiny town of Gundagai NSW will see their subsidies nearly double from $12,000 to $23,000 after they serve for five years.
Doctors in the tiny town of Rutherglen Victoria will see their subsidies nearly double from $12,000 to $23,000 after they serve for five years.