Distribution Working Group

Role

The Distribution Working Group (DWG) provides us and the Minister for Health and Aged Care with independent advice on:

policies, programs, and tools that aim to distribute the Australian medical workforce in an equitable way – these include:
- health-related geographical classification systems such as Distribution Priority Areas (DPA) and GP catchment methodologies
- guidelines that contribute to distribution, such as the section 19AB legislative guidelines
exceptional circumstance review applications to change an area’s DPA classification
other relevant issues that we or the minister identify.

A new DWG was formed in June 2023.

Previous DWGs met between 2017 and 2022. See their archived terms of reference.

Terms of reference

For more detail about the DWG’s roles and responsibilities, see the current terms of reference.

Members

The Assistant Secretary of our Workforce Distribution Branch chairs the group. It consists of 1 independent advisor and representatives from the:

Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine
Australian Medical Association
Council of Presidents of Medical Colleges
National Rural Health Alliance
National Rural Health Commissioner
Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators
Royal Australian College of General Practitioners
Rural Doctors Association of Australia
Consumers Health Forum of Australia.

A Distribution Technical Advisory Group (DTAG) supports the DWG by providing more technical advice on:

medical workforce distribution tools
the methodology for determining distribution decisions
policy options to improve access to doctors.

Meetings

The DWG aims to meet 3 times a year or as required.

Exceptional circumstances reviews and outcomes

The DWG:

reviews requests to change an area’s DPA classification
makes recommendations to the Minister.

See how to request a review of a DPA classification.

We publish the outcomes of reviews and upload any changes into the Health Workforce Locator.

The most recent outcomes include:

Search:

State/territory	GP catchment	DPA status outcome	Outcome summary
NSW	Engadine-Heathcote	Not Granted	The DPA classification of Engadine-Heathcote was considered by the DWG in January 2025. The following factors were considered: Assessment against current DPA benchmarks indicate relatively high levels of GP service in this catchment. The catchment has experienced low levels of population growth over the 4 years to 2023-24. The number of GPs providing services in the catchment has increased over the previous 4 years. GP FTE per 1,000 residents is above the MM2 average. The catchment experiences low levels of socio-economic disadvantage. The Minister has not granted DPA status for this catchment. The catchment is not considered to meet the requirements for exceptional circumstances.
NSW	St Marys (NSW)	Not Granted	The DPA classification of St Marys (NSW) was considered by the DWG in January 2025. The following factors were considered: Assessment against current DPA benchmarks indicate very high levels of GP service in this catchment, well above the benchmark. The catchment has experienced low levels of population growth over the 4 years to 2023-24. GP FTE per 1,000 residents is far exceeding the MM2 average. The catchment experiences moderate-high levels of socio-economic disadvantage. The Minister has not granted DPA status for this catchment. The catchment is not considered to meet the requirements for exceptional circumstances.
QLD	Caloundra	Not Granted	The DPA classification of Caloundra was considered by the DWG in January 2025. The following factors were considered: Assessment against current DPA benchmarks indicate relatively high levels of GP service in this catchment. The catchment has experienced moderate population growth over the 4 years to 2023-24. In the same period, GP FTE has decreased. However, GP FTE per 1,000 residents remains well above the MM2 average. The catchment experiences moderate-low levels of socio-economic disadvantage. The Minister has not granted DPA status for this catchment. The catchment is not considered to meet the requirements for exceptional circumstances.
QLD	Nambour	Not Granted	The DPA classification of Nambour was considered by the DWG in January 2025. The following factors were considered: Assessment against DPA benchmarks indicates the catchment continues to receive higher levels of GP service relative to community need. The catchment has experienced moderate population growth over the 4 years to 2023-24. In the same period, GP FTE has decreased. GP FTE per 1,000 residents is slightly below the MM2 average. The catchment experiences moderate-low levels of socio-economic disadvantage. The Minister has not granted DPA status for this catchment. The catchment is not considered to meet the requirements for exceptional circumstances.
QLD	Sunnybank	Not Granted	The DPA classification of Sunnybank was considered by the DWG in January 2025. The following factors were considered: Assessment against DPA benchmarks indicates the catchment continues to receive higher levels of GP service relative to community need. The catchment has experienced low population growth over the 4 years to 2023-24. In the same period, GP FTE has decreased. However, GP FTE per 1,000 residents remains consistent with the MM2 average. The catchment experiences moderate-low levels of socio-economic disadvantage. The Minister has not granted DPA status for this catchment. The catchment is not considered to meet the requirements for exceptional circumstances.
SA	Salisbury	Not Granted	The DPA classification of Salisbury was considered by the DWG in January 2025. The following factors were considered: The assessed percentage above the benchmark for GPs in 2023 indicates adequate levels of GP service relative to community needs in this catchment. The assessed percentage above the benchmark for the BMP in 2023 indicates borderline adequate levels of GP service in the catchment. Population growth in the Salisbury catchment has been low over the 4 years to 2023-24. GP FTE has decreased over the same period. However, GP FTE per 1,000 residents remains consistent with MM2 average. The ABS Socio-Economic Index for Areas (SEIFA) indicator for the catchment indicates high levels of socio-economic disadvantage than other areas. The Minister has not granted DPA status for this catchment. The catchment is not considered to meet the requirements for exceptional circumstances.
SA	Burnside	Not Granted	The DPA classification of Burnside was considered by the DWG in January 2025. The following factors were considered: The assessed percentage above the benchmark for GPs in 2023 indicates very high levels of GP service relative to community needs in this catchment. Population growth in the catchment is strong, with GP FTE keeping relative pace. GP FTE per 1,000 residents is slightly below the MM2 average. The ABS Socio-Economic Index for Areas (SEIFA) indicator indicates low levels of socio-economic disadvantage than other areas. The Minister has not granted DPA status for this catchment. The catchment is not considered to meet the requirements for exceptional circumstances.
VIC	Pakenham	Not Granted	The DPA classification of Pakenham was considered by the DWG in January 2025. The following factors were considered: The assessed percentage above the benchmark for GPs in 2023 indicates very high levels of GP service relative to community needs in this catchment. Population growth in the catchment has been moderate over the 4 years to 2023-24. GP FTE in the catchment has increased in the past 4 years. The GP FTE per 1,000 residents in 2023-24 is higher than the MM 2 average of 1.1. The ABS Socio-Economic Index for Areas (SEIFA) indicator indicates moderate-low levels of socio-economic disadvantage than other areas. The Minister has not granted DPA status for this catchment. The catchment is not considered to meet the requirements for exceptional circumstances.
WA	Mundaring-Swan View	No decision	No decision was made regarding the Mundaring-Swan View DPA ECR application. The department is processing a DPA classification system update. This catchment will gain DPA status through the update.
WA	Swan	No decision	No decision was made regarding the Swan DPA ECR application. The department is processing a DPA classification system update. This catchment will gain DPA status through the update.
WA	Wanneroo-Quinn Rocks	No decision	No decision was made regarding the Wanneroo-Quin Rocks DPA ECR application. The department is processing a DPA classification system update. This catchment will gain DPA status through the update.

See previous exceptional circumstances reviews and outcomes.

Contact

To contact us with general enquiries about the committee you can use our online form.

Distribution Working Group secretariat

DWG members, Rural Workforce Agencies (RWAs) and Public Health Networks can use this email to contact the secretariat.

DistributionWorkingGroup@health.gov.au

Date last updated:

15 April 2025

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