Racgp

Australia’s Healthdirect launched 1800Medicare at the start of the year as part of a federal pledge to improve Healthdirect services under one national system. The new branding is still led by Healthd...

Australia Day honours recognise 949 Australians across a range of awards, with the 2026 list including the Order of Australia in General and Military divisions, meritorious awards and recognitions for...

A GP led project aims to give practical, evidence based tools for miscarriage care in general practice. Dr Joanne Wong from the University of Western Australia is leading the work. Miscarriage affects...

Australia is expanding access to after-hours care through 1800MEDICARE, a government-funded virtual GP service that launched on 1 January. The program is operated by Healthdirect Australia and funded...

Ten GPs were honoured in the Australia Day honours list. Nine current or former GPs feature across rural care, obstetrics, aged care and public health. Eight received the Medal of the Order of Austral...

The Therapeutic Goods Administration released its Compliance Principles for 2026–27. It sets out how the agency will monitor and enforce rules for therapeutic goods. The approach is designed to be agi...

Terry White Chemmart has launched the Pathway to Prescribing Program as part of a broader plan to embed pharmacist prescribing in routine pharmacy practice by 2026. The program provides governance, sa...

Researchers published findings on mental health support demand in 2021. They compared people with a common diagnosed disorder to those without and looked back to 2007 data. The main finding is that th...

ChatGPT Health was launched in early January 2026. It allows patients to upload medical records for AI analysis and uses the data to interpret recent test results, help patients prepare for appointmen...

Australian general practice shifted heavily to telehealth after the COVID-19 period. A study in the Journal of Health Economics used MBS and PBS data from 2017 to 2022 to compare antibiotic dispensing...

The Australian GP policy landscape is adjusting to Medicare's chronic disease management CDM framework, with a new CDM framework taking effect from 1 July 2025. The Royal Australian College of General...

Marcelle Cooper became a new mum who hid her struggles with postnatal anxiety and depression. A routine check with her regular GP focused on the baby rather than her mood. After realising she was not...

The Lancet editorial No health without peace argues that conflict is a fundamental determinant of health and the functioning of health systems. It says war will be a major health challenge in 2026. Cl...

Australia has enacted reforms to My Health Record through the Health Legislation Amendment Act 2025. The changes make uploading mandatory for pathology and diagnostic imaging reports. From October 202...

Australian genomic researchers from Monash University have renewed calls for a nationwide DNA screening program. The complete results from their 10 000-person pilot show 2% carry a high risk genetic v...

The NSW branch of the Australian Medical Association released a plan to tackle illicit tobacco in New South Wales. The strategies were submitted to the NSW Legislative Council after parliamentary hear...

Australia’s My Health Record has been modernised to give patients access to pathology results on the same day as their clinician. From March, patients can view limb X-ray reports immediately after upl...

The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing released plans to phase out Medicare rebate cheques by July 2028 and opened a public consultation on the changes. Under the proposal, government cheques...

A major review published in Lancet Obstetrics Gynecology and Women’s Health finds no link between taking paracetamol during pregnancy and autism spectrum disorder ADHD or intellectual disability in ch...

A Commonwealth Fund global survey of nearly 11,000 GPs across 10 countries, including Australia, shows burnout is high among Australian clinicians. In Australia, 32% of GPs report burnout, with admini...