A key factor behind the shortage is a 2022 change to the federal Distribution Priority Area (DPA) policy, which relaxed the rules about where international medical graduates can work; rural clinics warned at the time that the amendment would make recruitment harder.

In the small town of Birregurra, the local medical clinic has been looking for a second GP for 18 months without success, leaving Dr Jared Kilday as the only permanent doctor for the community.

Meanwhile, Casterton went without a GP for six months in 2024 after its long‑standing doctor retired, forcing patients to travel more than an hour to the nearest towns of Hamilton or Mount Gambier for any care.

Practice manager Andrea Cumming explained that doctors are not paid enough to move to rural areas, saying, "Doctors aren't getting paid well enough to come into rural areas; they can make more money working in Melbourne."

Because of these staffing gaps, patients who could have been treated by a GP end up in emergency departments, where each visit can cost $500 or more and a hospital admission can exceed $1,000 per day, putting extra strain on already busy regional hospitals.