A record 1772 doctors will begin training to become specialist GPs in 2026 with the Royal Australian College of GPs (RACGP) in the Commonwealth-funded Australian General Practice Training (AGPT) Program.
This represents a nearly 19% increase on 2025’s record-breaking AGPT cohort of 1507 future GPs. Of these:
- 841 doctors on the rural training pathway will spend all three years of their training in regional, rural, or remote communities. This is a 44.2% increase on 2025, driven by a 125% rise in interest in rural training since 2024
- 770 doctors on the general pathway will train mainly in cities, but must spend at least 12 months working in outer metropolitan areas, rural regions, non-capital cities, or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health services
- 161 doctors on the composite pathway will complete at least six months training in areas with the greatest need – including the Northern Territory, North West Queensland, New England, Murrumbidgee, or Western NSW.
- 293 doctors (16.5% of the cohort) will train as Rural Generalists, gaining an extra year of skills in emergency medicine and hospital care that are essential for rural communities.
In all, 1772 GPs in training were accepted into the RACGP AGPT program in 2026.
A further 1110 eligible doctors applied, indicating with more Commonwealth-funded AGPT places and support for GP supervisors, the RACGP can train more specialist GPs.
RACGP President Dr Michael Wright said the increase was driven by Federal Government investment, with the strong rural growth reflecting the College’s priority to train GPs in the communities which need them.
“We’ve worked with the Federal Government and health department to fill all available Australian GP Training Program places, for the second year in a row,” he said.
“The astounding 44% growth in future specialist GPs training on a rural pathway confirms what we’ve said consistently – investment in general practice leads to real outcomes.
“More doctors have chosen a career in specialist general practice for the third straight year since the RACGP assumed responsibility for GP training in 2023.
“This year almost half of all GPs in training will be treating patients in general practices outside metropolitan areas for the whole three-plus years of their training.
“That’s no accident – we repeatedly opened more rural training places. We worked with these future GPs to secure a spot in one of their preferred training regions, and our teams also showed future GPs the great opportunities in rural GP training. We were also able to work with state and federal governments to help many access rural training incentives.
“You can see that in where our applicants want to do their training – first preferences for our rural training regions have increased by 45% this year, and 125% since 2024. The RACGP is Australia’s leading college for rural GP training.”
Dr Wright said the record result reflects Government investment – and that more growth is both possible and necessary.
“We called for an ambitious number of extra GP training places, and the Government beat it. They backed that up with major investments to provide GPs in training with incentives, paid parental leave, and study leave to give them equal earnings and entitlements to non-GP specialists training in our hospitals,” he said.
“But we shouldn’t stop there. It takes 10 years to train a GP. Workforce planning must align with this cycle to reduce reliance on overseas-trained doctors.
“Australia needs more specialist GPs, and the RACGP is ready and willing to train them.”
~ENDS
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