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The $1 million job no one wants

Quairading in Western Australia is desperately looking for a new doctor and is offering a hefty salary.

Quairading doctor. Job opportunity.
Quairading, in Western Australia, is offering up to $1 million for this job. (Source: Getty/Shire of Quairading)

Quairading, a rural town 167 kilometres east of Perth, is offering up to $1 million and free rent to a doctor willing to move there.

The West Australian town, home to approximately 1,000 residents, revealed its only GP would be moving away in March.

To attract a new doctor, the Quairading Council is also offering a four-bedroom house for the new doctor to live in free.

Council member Peter Smith told 9 News the council was worried about residents having to travel an hour away for medical care.

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“Our other consideration is if we lose our doctor then we're travelling to Northam or York or other centres to get that service," Smith said.

"There is a maldistribution of GPs, which we are aware of, and it has been exacerbated during the pandemic."

The council will also cover the day-to-day running costs of the GP practice, as well as covering the salary of additional staff.

It’s not the first time rural towns have had to offer big salaries to attract doctors.

Last year, the Queensland town of Julia Creek offered $500,000 plus free rent in a bid to lure a new GP to the town.

$13 million trial to retain rural GPs

It comes as the Federal Government launches a $13 million rural-GP-training program in Tasmania to combat GP shortages. Under the program, GP trainees will have the option of being employed by the state government, rather than individual practices.

This would give them guaranteed income and entitlements, such as annual leave, and other benefits received by doctors working in hospital settings.

The Government said it hoped this would make working in rural and general practice more attractive.

“Australians in every postcode deserve access to world-class health care,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.

“For too long we’ve seen communities across Tasmania - like Huon Valley, Bridgewater, Deloraine and in Latrobe - not be able to retain doctors.”

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