Rural Relocation Incentive Grant

The Rural Relocation Incentive Grant (RRIG) aims to increase the number of GPs in rural and remote areas of Australia through the provision of relocation grants.

To be eligible for a relocation grant GPs must:

apply before they relocate. Applications received after they’ve relocated will not be accepted
be a fellow of a recognised specialist college
be an Australian citizen or permanent resident
relocate to a location classified as more remote than the location they’ve been practising at over the past 12 months
have provided at least one service within the past 12 months (to determine the location from which the GP is relocating)
not have received a RRIG before, and
have completed the requirements under section 19AB of the Health Insurance Act 1973 (e.g. completed their 10 year moratorium), if you’re an overseas trained GP.

Incentive grants are calculated according to the location GPs relocate from and relocate to, as well as their clinical workload following relocation.

Payments are made in two instalments—after your application has been approved and after you’ve relocated. Each instalment is based on the preceding 4 quarters. To get paid, GPs must meet the continuous service requirements for the 4 quarters. The maximum payment rates available to GPs are based on a full-time equivalent (FTE) workload.

ASGC-RA	to	Inner Regional (ASGC-RA2)	Outer Regional (ASGC-RA3)	Remote (ASGC-RA4)	Very Remote (ASGC-RA5)
From
Major Cities (ASGC-RA1)		$15 000 ($7500 p/a)	$30 000 ($15 000 p/a)	$60 000 ($30 000 p/a)	$120 000 ($60 000 p/a)
Inner Regional (ASGC-RA2)			$15 000 ($7500 p/a)	$30 000 ($15 000 p/a)	$60 000 ($30 000 p/a)
Outer Regional (ASGC-RA3)			-	$15 000 ($7500 p/a)	$30 000 ($15 000 p/a)
Remote			-	-	$15 000 ($7500 p/a)

Payments for this component can be made through two systems:

Central Payments System (CPS)—GPs who bill medicare services have their clinical workload automatically assessed each quarter while they’re working towards their first or second instalment.
FPS – this system is used by GPs who provide services outside the Medicare billing system and are therefore not adequately reflected in Medicare records e.g. the Royal Flying Doctor Service. To be assessed under the FPS, GPs must contact the RWA in their state or territory. GPs should use this system if they:
- have received payments through CPS before, but after a period of acceptable leave they have lost accrued eligibility in CPS.
- have provided eligible services through alternative forms of employment that haven’t been captured on CPS, and
- work in isolated communities and receive minimal payments under the CPS that doesn’t reflect their workload.

General Practice Rural Incentives Program Rural Relocation Incentive Grant application form [PDF, 91Kb] must be submitted to Medicare for processing.