The RACGP promotes a culture of lifelong learning and encourages supervisors to undertake professional development activities that support their ongoing development as a supervisor. The RACGP does not stipulate a minimum number of hours for supervisor professional development but over a 3-year accreditation supervisors must undertake some professional development.

The RACGP pays a stipend to the practice to support supervisor professional development. The amount paid represents the anticipated number of supervisor professional development hours supervisors in the training post will undertake. The RACGP anticipates that practices with a greater number of registrars (other than those in extension awaiting fellowship terms) will complete more supervisor professional development activities.

How each of the individual accredited supervisors within the training post contribute to the total number of hours is at the discretion of the practice but should reflect the learning needs of the supervisors. Activities accepted as SPD are determined in the regions and are recorded in the supervisor portfolio of the Training Management System.

The stipend payment is intended to support the ability for supervisors and training sites to demonstrate their commitment to supervisor professional development through attendance at RACGP delivered events. While failure to attend eligible events may result in the stipend payment being paused, this will not impact training site or supervisor accreditation so long as the supervisor and/or training site are able to demonstrate their ongoing commitment to supervisor professional development in other ways at the time of reaccreditation.

Supervisors in MMM2-7 locations will be able to apply for reimbursement of their travel expenses for attending face to face supervisor workshops.

The RACGP has identified training sites in priority areas of workforce need that have difficulty in obtaining a registrar. Supervisors in these training sites, called ‘incentivised placement practices’, are eligible for payment for attendance, travel and accommodation costs for RACGP approved SPD events even when their practice does not have a registrar. The list of incentivised placements are available at racgp.org.au/education/gp-training/gps-in-training/placement-incentives. Payment will be made to the practice after a supervisor from the practice attends a SPD event.