The areas in Australia where GPs can work are governed by the Department of Health. These areas are reviewed yearly and the most recent update has now been published. This has been particularly favourable for many areas and we’ve broken this down into states. As always, please do get in touch for more information and discuss how we can help you.

New South Wales – The regional cities of Wollongong, Newcastle and the Central Coast are now DPA plus some outer suburbs of Sydney. The update has opened up the whole area and means you can work in as little as 40 minutes from Sydney

Queensland – Many western suburbs of Brisbane have now been granted DPA so you can work within 30 – 40 minutes from the city. The whole QLD region from the Sunshine Coast along the coast to Cairns is now DPA

Victoria – Melbourne has kept it’s DPA areas and some coastal suburbs only 20 minutes from the city have been added.

South Australia – The city of Adelaide has remained fairly unchanged however the update has opened up some areas to the north of Adelaide

Western Australia – Perth gained some DPA areas in an exemption last year; these areas have remained DPA. You can work 40 minutes from the city centre.

Tasmania – Hobart and Launceston are now fully DPA. All of Tasmania is now open to overseas GPs.

ACT – Canberra remains mostly DPA apart from the inner city suburbs

Northern Territory – As before, the entire region including central Darwin is DPA.

The recent update has made things much easier for overseas GPs to work across the country. It has removed the restrictions from much of regional cities and coastal areas. It is only the city suburbs which are affected by the DPA restrictions; GP jobs remain in the outer metro areas.

This is very good news and we look forward to helping you find your dream job!