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Training Requirements under the NTCER (AGPT)

Teaching Time

The training practice is required to provide supervision in accordance with the AGPT guidelines.  These differ for each level of training and according to whether the registrar is full time or part time.  The competency of the registrar must also be considered.  

There should be a supervision team, comprising not only accredited supervisors but also other GPs, the practice manager, nursing, reception and administration staff.  Supervision is not a one-person task.

Dependent upon the level of the registrar, the supervisor does not need to always be on site when the registrar is consulting.  

The supervisor will generally not attend RACF or home visits with the registrar.  However, Section 9.1 states that the supervisor or a delegate should be available to attend in person within a reasonable time frame when requested, or in the case of an emergency.  

The registrar should be aware of who to call and how to contact them if their supervisor is not on site. 

Educational Release

Mandatory educational release forms part of the registrar’s normal working hours, and therefore should be paid at the registrar’s base rate of pay.

The Colleges encourage registrars to attend educational release on a full time basis, however the employer is not required to pay for more than the pro-rata total of the training provider’s mandated hours. 

Clause 9.2(e) of the NTCER refers to this issue. 

Practices are only required to pay and provide time off for the number of hours that equates to their FTE fraction, i.e. if a registrar works 19 hours per week, they are entitled to paid educational release of 50% of the total mandated education hours.

As with payment, there is no obligation for the employer to provide time out of practice for the part time registrar to attend educational release on a full time basis.

If the registrar requests time out of practice, the employer and the registrar should negotiate how this could be achieved. This may result in the registar swapping their consulting day or taking paid annual leave.  

Should the registrar request leave without pay to attend educational release, they should ensure that they have discussed this with their College and understand the implications that this may have on their training time.

This is tricky, and a lot comes down to practicality and the relationship you would like to have with your registrar.  

The educational release day is for 7.5 hours so what do you do with the other 1.5 hours? Do you ask the registrar to make the time up another day?  Do you ‘dock’ their wages the 1.5 hours? Do you simply pay the 9 hours because the registrar has no control over the difference in hours? 

Whilst the NTCER states that the hours must be paid at the base rate of pay Section 9.2 (j) , Section 9.2 (l)(a) states that whilst the registrar is entitled to be absent for the entire day, the amount that they should be paid should be UP TO the average daily hours over a 5 day/38 hour week.  This equates to 7.6 hours.  

Therefore, the answer is that in this situation, there is 1.4 hours that the registrar could be asked to make up on another day; alternately, they could draw on annual leave to make up any shortfall. How this is managed is a matter for the registrar, supervisor and employer to determine.

Yes – clause 9.2(m) covers this situation.  It is important to note that the alternate day off should ideally be on the day immediately before or immediately after the educational release day. 

These days cannot be ‘banked’ for use at another time.

Educational release is not paid time when it occurs ‘after hours’, i.e. outside the hours of 8.00am–8.00pm Monday to Friday and 8.00am–1pm on Saturday. 

As these webinars are scheduled in the after hours period, you are not required to provide time off in lieu.  Clause 9.2(a) of the NTCER covers this.

As you are only 2 weeks into a 26 week Semester, this is a very valid question.

It is unlikely that an increase in rostered hours after the commencement of the training term will result in an increase in your practice subsidy under the National Consistent Payment (NCP).  However, if the employment contract is amended to a fraction of 0.75, then the registrar is entitled to paid educational release at 0.75 also.  Whether you accommodate this request will be a business decision as you will not be compensated through the AGPT program for the additional out-of-practice hours.

Clause 9.2(l) states that if an education session is 4 hours or less, it will be treated as 4 hours or a half day against their normal hours that day. As this day is normally 8 hours, they are entitled to ‘miss’ the 8am-9am hour and commence work at 1.00pm.

It is important when interviewing for a part time registrar that you are aware of their total commitment to the training program. 

Clause 9.2(h) states that if a registrar is doing full time training through more than one employer, the registrar has a responsibility to use their best endeavours to ensure that the educational release is shared equitably. 

This would mean that the registrar should provide the practice manager and/or supervisor of both practices with each other’s contact details and work flexibly within the two practices to accommodate any adjustments that are required.  There is also an expectation of the employers that they will behave equitably in this situation also to optimise the registrar’s training experience.

Administration Time

Administration time of 30 mins/half day – up to a maximum of 5 hours per week is provided for every registrar under clause 9.3 of the NTCER. 

Like all GPs, registrars have work to complete that falls outside of normal appointments – checking results, speaking with other specialists or accessing appointments on their patient’s behalf. This work should be done within their 38 hours of paid time, and therefore allowance must be made in the appointment schedule for this.

Administration time is expected to be spent on site, and to be used for appropriate purposes.  

This allowance is not to enable the registrar to leave early, or arrive late. Neither can it be ‘banked’ and utilised for a ½ day off per week – even if this time is spent during administrative tasks. 

The whole purpose of administration time is to assist the registrar with managing their time effectively, to promote an appropriate work/life balance and to assist with registrar – and patient – safety.  For these reasons, it is important that the guidance provided in clause 9.3 of the NTCER is followed.

Practice Orientation

Clause 9.4 states that the registrar is required to attend orientation after they commence their employment with the practice. In certain circumstances, this is not possible. 

Clause 9.4(a) states that if the registrar is asked to attend prior to employment commencing, they must be paid at their base rate of pay for these hours.

Hopefully you would have advance notice of the mandatory College educational release days in advance.  If so, we would suggest that you have a specific roster for Week 1 that includes Wednesday and provides Friday off instead (so that the registrar is able to consolidate what they learn at Wednesday’s orientation on the Thursday).  

If this is not possible, Section 9.4(b) states that the practice must pay the registrar for the orientation hours at their base rate of pay and provide the next rostered day – in this case Thursday – off in lieu. 

Date reviewed: 10 November 2025

Please note that while reasonable care is taken to provide accurate information at the time of creation, we frequently update content and links as needed. If you identify any inconsistencies or broken links, please let us know by email.

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FAQ: Working Through the Facts about Workforce Planning and Prioritisation 

This webpage complements the webinar recordings on this topic, available either via our YouTube channel or in audio format by clicking on the corresponding button below:

Webinar Video
Webinar Podcast

What is the WPP project?

The AGPT Workforce Planning and Prioritisation (WPP) project aims to deliver robust, independent, evidence-based advice to DoHAC and the GP specialty Colleges to inform AGPT training placement priorities.

Key Elements

  • Understanding the community need for general practitioners across our communities.
  • Combining data about workforce need with information from GP catchments about training capacity.

By looking at these two elements together, the WPPOs aim to identify upcoming areas of need for GP trainees to future-proof healthcare services for communities across Australia.

What facts about the WPPOs might help dispel the concerns our members have?

Workforce Needs Assessment

The common approach across the various WPPOs involves a workforce needs and training capacity assessment using data obtained from the Commonwealth at a GP catchment level. The size and breadth of the separate jurisdictions necessitates a different form of data collection and evaluation across the country. In Victoria, for example, there are 153 GP catchments. These are non-overlapping geographical areas that depict a boundary to show where patients will generally travel to access most of their GP services. 

It’s important to understand that this analysis is being done at the GP catchment level, and not within a GP practice itself.

The WPP team aims to provide the Commonwealth with accurate information about community need for the GP workforce, collating demographic data, population data and qualitative data from broad regional consultation to identify supply, demand and training capacity. Then there is an analysis of the gap between demand and supply in a GP catchment, drawing on supply indicators such as the number of GPs in a catchment, the FTE of GP’s, and the number of services that are being provided to patients based on Medicare data. At the end of the workforce needs assessment, the WPPOs will compare and contrast GP catchments to provide a workforce need ranking based on the data looking at demand and supply.

Looking at training capacity and training quality in the catchments is a key element of the WPP.

So how does the WPPO work out what training capacity looks like and how do they measure it?

There is as yet no fixed method of performing the WPP grant activities.

Measuring training quality is something the WPPOs are only now developing and working on. They are really happy to hear feedback on what “quality training” means to different people, which underpins their need to engage with supervisors, GPs, practice managers and registrars: to make sure they are representing the story of their catchments appropriately. So when they look at training capacity, this is what they have heard directly from you, and from your colleagues and other stakeholders.

These are the important things the WPPOs need to be thinking about:

  • Supervision capacity
  • Practice characteristics 
  • Understanding the quality of training that’s been provided. 
  • Lifestyle factors that help decide if GP registrars want to work in one area over another.

The WPPOs do not have all of this information available. So they need to engage with key stakeholders within their local communities to understand:

  • What makes great training capacity
  • What are the gaps?
  • What are the challenges?
  • What are the solutions that we need to be focusing on?

The experience of supervisors and training practices that are currently in place who may not be in areas of need going forward… Is this being taken into consideration?
Are those two reports mutually exclusive to the point where that won’t be factored in workforce and capacity?

No, they’re definitely not mutually exclusive. The WPPOs will be combining workforce need and training capacity to determine one overall priority level.

There will be five priority levels for the GP catchments and each of those priority levels comes with a recommendation that the WPPOs put forward to the Colleges on what needs to be done in this area. For example, priority one catchments have a high workforce need, and an identified high training capacity. So they’re ready to go.

The WPPOs have worked through a scale that also goes down to areas that have got a high need but low capacity. So these are priority areas they need to act on to increase training capacity – and that could be any number of things identified through this report. They might need remote supervision models, they might need more supervisors, there might need to be more practices accredited. There will be possible local solutions provided within each GP catchment.

It is really important that the WPPOs understand the role of the supervisor, the training quality, the satisfaction of our supervisors, and their intent to supervise into the future. All of these factors come into play when talking about future planning to give clarity to what’s happening in these catchments.

WPPOs are also piloting an analysis of Training Pathways as one of the outcomes they want to achieve for GP trainees as part of the WPP is being able to provide a training environment where registrars can train in or complete their whole pathway in one particular region, to help prevent them having to move around all the time.

For those that do want to settle in areas, understanding training pathways and gaps in training pathways will be really helpful and a really useful tool for the Colleges to be able to plan and support registrars as they move through their training.

The next part of the WPP is looking at workforce needs ranking and a training capacity ranking for each GP catchment and translating this into one of five priority levels.

WPPOs will provide the government and GP colleges with advice on current actions, recommendations and future recommendations so they can understand what needs to be done to build capacity in areas that don’t have capacity at the moment.

It is critically important that the WPP team engage with people on the ground at the coalface working in GP practices. They need to talk to registrar’s, supervisors, practice managers and other key stakeholders in this area to identify issues, barriers and solutions and capture this information in their reports that are provided  to the Commonwealth and to work with the Colleges to find solutions.

1. Supervision2. Practice Characteristics3. Training Quality4. Lifestyle
Access to accredited supervisorsAccess to Accredited General Practices (meet RACGP standard)Are trainees experencing diverse paitent load (e.g. structured)Access to Housing
Capacity to supervise based on clinical workloadAccess to Accredited AGPT Training FacilitiesCapacity to work across Community facilities (e.g.RACF)Access to Schools
Supervision: Trainee ratioActive and Accredited AGPT Training FacilitiesAccess to Childcare
Quality SupervisionAccess to Training Space within GP PracticesAccess to Aiport
Supervisor SatisfactionAccess to Multidisciplinary TeamsAccess to Public Transport
Supervision complexity of TraineesSense of Community Belonging (culture)
Quality Internet Connectivity
Dinning and Leisure Opportunities
Sports and Recreation Facilities

WPPOs need to continue to and already have engaged with current past and future AGPT registrar’s to continue to develop the training capacity rubric. WPPOs really need to engage with those who are coming through the system as well, because things change quite quickly.

WPPOs are engaging with supervisors and practice managers about what impacts training capacity. They know that practice managers run the practices and do a fantastic job, they’re often the first point of call, particularly from a training perspective. So it’s really important to engage with those practice managers who can provide us with that information.

The things that WPPOs want from general practices, supervisors and practice managers, we really want to find out their perspectives. So from a supervisors perspective, what are the things that matter to you, and how can we use that information within our reports. WPPOs want to know about your experiences. They think it is really important to find out the experiences you’re having in regard to supervising, and training your trainees as well as getting some suggestions from you as to how to solve or look at these problems. They don’t know everything, they are asking for that information.

What are some of the things that are missing that you can identify for WPPOs? And solutions?

The best possible way to improve the quality of training?
WPPOs certainly not saying that GP training has been at a poor quality but they are looking to how we can contribute to improvement. WPPOs need to look at continuous improvement and hear from supervisors to get that information that leads to improvement.

  • How can WPPOs continuously improve
  • Whatdo you think works well
  • What do you think doesn’t work well
  • What issues you think WPPOs can fix and how WPPOs can fix those
  • WPPOs understand the data doesn’t tell the full story
  • What are the things that will impact you continuing to be a supervisor?
  • What are the things that will impact you stopping from being a supervisor?
  • What will impact those younger supervisors or younger trainees coming through that might want to be supervisors in the long term?
  • How do WPPOs look at succession planning? What are the things that impact that?
  • Quality is important.

What is consistent is that we all want quality practices, quality training and quality supervision.

What would you use to measure quality when WPPOs are talking about quality training, quality supervision? Is there a metric you’re using?

What outcomes would the WPPOs use to measure quality?

WPPOs do not think there is an absolute measure of quality. It’s about talking to registrars and supervisors to try and identify what quality supervision is.

Trainees have different ideas to describe what they think quality is. WPPOs pull all this information together and try to come up with an answer to what we can measure that against.

The matrix below shows a number of different factors that influence the quality and capacity of training. These are indicators that registrar’s say has an impact on where they would choose to go.

1. Supervision2. Practice Characteristics3. Training Quality4. Lifestyle
Access to accredited supervisorsAccess to Accredited General Practices (meet RACGP standard)Are trainees experencing diverse paitent load (e.g. structured)Access to Housing
Capacity to supervise based on clinical workloadAccess to Accredited AGPT Training FacilitiesCapacity to work across Community facilities (e.g.RACF)Access to Schools
Supervision: Trainee ratioActive and Accredited AGPT Training FacilitiesAccess to Childcare
Quality SupervisionAccess to Training Space within GP PracticesAccess to Aiport
Supervisor SatisfactionAccess to Multidisciplinary TeamsAccess to Public Transport
Supervision complexity of TraineesSense of Community Belonging (culture)
Quality Internet Connectivity
Dinning and Leisure Opportunities
Sports and Recreation Facilities

This is a national approach. WPPOs are applying the same methodology to look at both rural regional and metropolitan GP catchments.

What WPPOs are hearing and what they are finding is that the situations that WPPOs are dealing with are very different depending on what GP catchments they are working with.

From conversations with colleagues in metropolitan PHN’s that they are experiencing enormous growth in populations in some of the outer corridors around Melbourne and that’s having a big impact on the numbers of GPs that we have available in those areas. It is a real supply and demand issue.

Being able to forecast these sorts of population growth is going to be really helpful when WPPOs are looking at the future placement of AGPT registrar’s, whereas in perhaps some of our rural communities, WPPOs are finding, they have supervision, difficulties trying to provide supervisors in some of these GP catchments, where they have practices that are keen to have GP trainees, but they might be solo practices with limited capacity. So this presents a different and unique challenge in those catchments. It is the same approach, but very different solutions and very different issues that WPPOs need to capture.

What about where there’s huge capacity to train but low workforce need? How do WPPOs preserve that?

Is that something that’s been factored in as at the moment WPPOs have some really engaged supervisors? Obviously, there are members who are very concerned that they won’t have training going into the future and they have set themselves up for it, they’ve gone to great expense and put a lot of investment of time and energy into it.

WPPOs do include these in their recommendations and their priority levels. WPPOs do address catchment areas that have a lower workforce need, and a higher training capacity so that they are flagging these issues with the Colleges so that they’re aware.

One of the reasons WPPOs have different indicators are to looking at quality. This is very important. There’s a need to put registrar’s into certain places where there is workforce need. It is also really important to have a look at the quality of training to make sure WPPOs do not lose that quality of training moving forward.

Ultimately, to have the independence and evidence based information, provided a report to the Colleges around the training capacity and the workforce need. So that then there’s more visibility, more informed information to assist, the decisions associated with distribution, training and support.

WPPO’s have an important role in generating those ratings so that it can then be used for informed decision making with transparency and visibility.

  • Quality Practices – Quality Training – Quality Supervision
  • Stakeholder perspectives and experiences
  • Supervisor challenges and opportunities
  • Balancing data and local knowledge
  • Validate with local knowledge

What about the impact on placement processes and placement priorities within the college? Do the WPPOs know how this will shape placement for 2024 and beyond?

The Commonwealth will be utilising the findings from the WPP organisations to work with the Colleges to inform prioritisation to support a better distribution of GP trainees across the country.

VICTORIAN WPP CONSORTIA APPROACH

Murray PHN is the lead WPPO for Victoria with experience in servicing and providing support to the Victorian catchment jurisdiction. It is anticipated that there will be some commonalities across each of the jurisdictions but they all have their own respective Workforce Planning and Prioritisation Organisation.

Roles and responsibilities

The Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing

Policy and funding responsibilities, ultimately responsible for the AGPT program and its structure, architecture and resourcing.

ACRRM and RACGP (The Colleges)

Training responsibilities for registrar’s. They manage the program delivery for registrar training, previously delivered by the RTO system.

Workforce Planning and Priority Organisations (“WPPOs”)

Organisations undertaking the workforce planning and prioritisation role of identifying workforce need and training capacity. This process is conducted through a robust and independent process in collaboration with stakeholders to have an understanding of the local context in order to support the training and distribution of registrar’s within each of the jurisdictions.

Victoria WPP (Murray PHN)

Part of a consortium of Victorian PHNs that are undertaking the WPPO role in capturing workforce need and training capacity information, assessing this information and providing independent reports to the department. 

Contact details for your state/territory WPPO

The WPP process is undertaken through a jurisdiction by jurisdiction approach. 

Each of the jurisdictions are working closely together to enable the refinement and improvement of the reporting processes and to strengthen capacity through collaboration and information sharing.  

Vic

Dr Catherine Lees

Email c.lees@murrayphn.org.au

Website https://www.murrayphn.org.au/

Jodie Green

Email jodie.green@wapha.org.au

Philippa Gately
Email P.Gately@chnact.org.au

April Robinson
Email: april.robinson@ntphn.org.au

Matthew Vincent
Email matthew.vincent@gpex.com.au

Nick Kaine
Email kaine@hrplustas.com.au

Date reviewed: 26 June 2025

Please note that while reasonable care is taken to provide accurate information at the time of creation, we frequently update content and links as needed. If you identify any inconsistencies or broken links, please let us know by email.

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FAQ: Identifying and Managing Medico-legal Risks

For convenience, you can read through this resource here, or use the pdf tools at the top of the document to download and / or print the file. 

Date reviewed: 20 October 2025

Please note that while reasonable care is taken to provide accurate information at the time of creation, we frequently update content and links as needed. If you identify any inconsistencies or broken links, please let us know by email.

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For convenience, you can read through this resource here, or use the pdf tools at the top of the document to download and / or print the file.

Date reviewed: 21 October 2025

Please note that while reasonable care is taken to provide accurate information at the time of creation, we frequently update content and links as needed. If you identify any inconsistencies or broken links, please let us know by email.

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Common Employment Issues

This content supplements the detailed information provided on the Registrar Employment page.

Detailed FAQs explaining the Dispute Resolution processs in the NTCER are available here.

Contract templates have been created for use in recruiting full-time and part-time registrars for 2025.1. These are downloadable here.

Detailed FAQs explaining the Fatigue Management policy in the NTCER are available here.

Date reviewed: 10 December 2025

Please note that while reasonable care is taken to provide accurate information at the time of creation, we frequently update content and links as needed. If you identify any inconsistencies or broken links, please let us know by email.

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FAQ: Navigating Services Australia

This FAQ resource provides guidance on navigating Services Australia for practice supervisor payments, clarifying common questions related to eligibility and processes. It aims to simplify the steps for GP supervisors to ensure they can access the relevant funding and support efficiently

On 21st December 2022, Services Australia presented a walk-through of the PRODA / HPOS system for GPSA’s members. The below FAQ document was prepared from the information provided in that webinar, but we note the described processes have needed further clarification and indeed modification since the start of training under the Colleges in February 2023. Please refer to the above infographics for updated advice, noting that these are provided in a printable format here along with relevant training modules. You may also like to contact Services Australia directly with any queries on 1800 700 199 (option 4). Further contact details are included in the FAQ below.

For convenience, you can scroll through this FAQ here, or use the pdf tools at the top of the document to download and / or print the file.

Date reviewed: 20 October 2025

Please note that while reasonable care is taken to provide accurate information at the time of creation, we frequently update content and links as needed. If you identify any inconsistencies or broken links, please let us know by email.

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FAQ: National Consistent Payments & Flexible Funding

The FAQ page provides important information regarding National Consistent Payments (NCP) and flexible funding for GP training. It answers common questions related to funding, payment schedules, and eligibility for GP training programs.

For convenience, you can read through this resource here, or use the pdf tools at the top of the document to download and / or print the file.

Date reviewed: 23 September 2025

Please note that while reasonable care is taken to provide accurate information at the time of creation, we frequently update content and links as needed. If you identify any inconsistencies or broken links, please let us know by email.

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FAQ: ACRRM's Flexible Funding Model Explained

This FAQ explains the ACRRM’s Flexible Funding Model, offering insights into its purpose, eligibility, and how it works to support training in the healthcare sector. It addresses common questions to clarify the model’s application and funding process for both colleges and participants.

For convenience, you can read through this resource here, or use the pdf tools at the top of the document to download and / or print the file.

Date reviewed: 07 October 2025

Please note that while reasonable care is taken to provide accurate information at the time of creation, we frequently update content and links as needed. If you identify any inconsistencies or broken links, please let us know by email.

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FAQ: The Future of GP Training with ACRRM and RACGP

For convenience, you can read through this resource here, or use the pdf tools at the top of the document to download and / or print the file.

Date reviewed: 10 November 2025

Please note that while reasonable care is taken to provide accurate information at the time of creation, we frequently update content and links as needed. If you identify any inconsistencies or broken links, please let us know by email.

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FAQ: The Future of GP Training with ACRRM

For convenience, you can read through this resource here, or use the pdf tools at the top of the document to download and / or print the file.

Date reviewed: 10 November 2025

Please note that while reasonable care is taken to provide accurate information at the time of creation, we frequently update content and links as needed. If you identify any inconsistencies or broken links, please let us know by email.

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