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On 21 September 2025, AHRA announced that Rural Generalist Medicine has been approved as a new field of specialty practice. This has been achieved following over seven years of effort guided by the Rural Generalist Recognition Taskforce, which brought together ACRRM, RACGP and three successive National Rural Health Commissioners.1
A Rural Generalist medical practitioner is a General Practitioner who has specific expertise in providing medical care for rural and remote or isolated communities.2 Practitioners working in this area are skilled to perform a broad range of medical services, including some skills which are ordinarily within the province of other specialties.
Rural Generalists provide vital primary and emergency care to rural and regional communities, and often have additional training in areas such as obstetrics, mental health and anaesthetics.3
In 2025, more than 1,750 doctors are expected to begin government-funded training to become a GP in 2025. One-third of these future GPs are training to be Rural Generalists.4
The Australian Medical Council, the Medical Board of Australia and ministers have formed the view that there is a public benefit in recognising rural generalist medicine for the purposes of specialist registration.
Only medical practitioners with specialist registration in rural generalist medicine can use the protected title 'specialist rural generalist'.
The Medical Board is now working through transition arrangements for doctors practising in this area, pending the outcome of the next stages to formalise the specialty's recognition and the approval of the qualification process.
What is a specialist title?
The National Law protects the public by ensuring that only registered health practitioners who are suitably trained and qualified use titles protected under sections 113 – 119 of the National Law. This will include the new Rural Generalist Medicine specialty area.
Penalties of up to $60,000 or 3 years imprisonment for an individual and $120,000 for a body corporate apply for breaching those protections of titles within the National Law.
Footnotes:
1 Rural Generalist
Medicine
2 RACGP - Become a Rural Generalist
with the RACGP
3 More GPs for regional and rural
Australia | Health, Disability and Ageing Ministers | Australian
Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing
4 Ibid
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
