Flexible Funds Policy

1. Purpose

The Australian Government has provided an additional pool of flexible funding to the RACGP to support supervisors to develop and maintain the skills needed in their supervision of registrars in training; and to enhance, expand and build high quality supported training opportunities for registrars in areas of workforce need.

This policy defines the principles, requirements and application of the RACGP’s use of flexible funds across Australia that is consistent with the business rules set out in the National Consistent Payments (NCP) Framework.

2. Scope

2.1 This policy applies to:

i. Registrars in the RACGP Australian General Practice Training (AGPT) program who are engaged in a Core Community General Practice Term, an Extension Term for Assessment Purposes, or an Additional Rural Skills Training (ARST) term,

ii. RACGP-accredited Supervisors who are engaged in the supervision of an AGPT Registrar in community general practice,

iii. RACGP-accredited Supervisors and Registrars who are engaged in an RACGP-approved AGPT Remote Supervision placement,

iv. RACGP-accredited community general practice Training Sites, and

v. RACGP staff.

2.2 This policy applies to the following payment types:

i. Supervisor professional development payments (refer to Schedule 1).

ii. Remote Supervision payments (refer to Schedule 2).

iii. Registrar financial support for Incentivised Placements (refer to Schedule 3).

iv. Registrar financial support for Additional Rural Skills Training (refer to Schedule 4).

3. General principles

3.1 This policy is subject to the RACGP receiving flexible funding from the Australian Government for the AGPT program.

3.2 The payments will be made to the claimant's nominated bank account. It is the responsibility of the claimant to ensure their account details are up to date in the Training Management System (TMS).

3.3 The RACGP is not liable for the recovery of payments made to incorrect accounts.

3.4 It is the responsibility of claimants to ensure that any claims submitted are correctly completed, signed and supported by the required evidence.

3.5 Accessible Flexible Funds payments does not exclude access to existing National Consistent Payment entitlements and other RACGP claimable items.

3.6 All payments and claims will be paid:

i. by semester and are linked to placements.

ii. from the start of the relevant training semester in the state or territory.

iii. for activities that relate to the current training semester.

iv. in accordance with the relevant schedule.

3.7 Payments and claims will not be paid:

i. where a claim for the same activity has already been paid by an alternative entity.

ii. for retrospective semesters.

4. Supervisor professional development payments

Details of the Supervisor professional development payments are outlined in Schedule 1.

4.1 New Supervisor professional development payments are payable directly to new Supervisors who:

i. have applied to become accredited as per the Accreditation Policy,

ii. have completed modules 1-7 of the Foundations of a GP training program, and

iii. are in an Accredited Training Site.

4.2 Accredited training practices supervising at least one Eligible Registrar will receive a Supervisor professional development stipend each semester.

i. The total number of Supervisor professional development hours completed by Supervisors in the training site must exceed the minimum requirement.

ii. Training sites determine who will attend the Supervisor professional development and how the stipend is distributed among the Supervisors.

4.3 Supervisors located in MM3-7, per the Modified Monash Model, can claim for the travel costs associated with attending face-to-face supervisor professional development.

5. Remote Supervision Payments

Details of the Remote Supervision payments are outlined in Schedule 2.

5.1 Remote supervision payments are payable to the Supervisor, as per the Remote Supervision Guidelines, who is providing remote (offsite) supervision to Registrars in GPT2, GPT3, or extended skills training terms undertaking an approved Remote Supervision placement.

6. Registrar financial support for Incentivised Placements

Details of the Registrar financial support for Incentivised Placements are outlined in Schedule 3.

6.1 Financial support for Incentivised Placements can be claimed by Registrars who:

i.  are undertaking a Core General Practice Training Term, an Extension Term for Assessment Purposes, or an ARST placement in a GP catchment or accredited training site that has been identified as an Incentivised Placement, and

ii. reside within the same GP Catchment (or an adjoining GP Catchment), for a minimum of 3 nights in a calendar week, or within 80kms of the placement.

6.2 Reimbursement claims for expenditure incurred can be submitted for the following:

i. relocation costs,

ii. housing rental assistance,

iii. increased childcare and education costs,

iv. additional training costs needed by training delivery site (e.g. Xray courses),

v. travel for personal health care or wellbeing (respite), and

vi. hardware for internet connectivity.

7. Registrar financial support for Additional Rural Skills Training

Details of the additional Rural Skills Training Payments are outlined in Schedule 4.

7.1 Financial support for Registrars can be claimed by Registrars who are:

i. enrolled in Rural Generalist training,

ii. undertaking Additional Rural Skills Training, and

iii. have not claimed an Additional Rural Skills Training financial support payment during training in any location.

8. Amendment of this policy

The Chief General Practice Training Officer (CGPTO) may, without the consent of the RACGP Board, make Minor, Moderate and Consequential Amendments to this policy at any time.

If the CGPTO makes amendments, they must advise the RACGP Board of those amendments as soon as practicable.

The CEO may make amendments to this policy at any time.

All amendments must be communicated to the Department of Health and Aged Care as soon as practicable.

9. Responsibilities

9.1 Chief General Practice Training Officer	Approving Minor Amendments Approving Moderate Amendments Approving Consequential Amendments
9.2 National Planner, GP Training Workforce	Annually reviewing this policy and confirming the incentivised locations for registrar support payments
9.3 Program Support Officers and Training Coordinators	Liaising with Registrars and Supervisors affected by this policy Supporting Stakeholders with access to paperwork and questions about policy requirements and scope Providing advice of incomplete information Accessing and recommending applications that meet all criteria for approval Providing advice to Supervisors and Registrars whose applications do not meet criteria
9.4 CEO	Approving Major Amendments
9.5 Registrar	Submitting applications for Registrar support payments for identified Incentivised Placements to the RACGP on the correct form, including all relevant supporting documentation Ensuring the application form is completed in full and signed Responding to requests for additional information from the RACGP
9.6 Regional Director of Training	Identification of mandatory educational release activity
9.7 Regional Operations Manager	Approving or declining applications for payments
9.8 Training site	Ensuring the bank details provided in the TMS are correct Ensuring supervisor professional development stipend payments are distributed to supervisors proportional to their participation in supervisor professional development activities Responding to requests for additional information from the RACGP