Workforce Incentive Program (WIP)
The Australian Government’s Workforce Incentive Program (WIP) offers a range of incentives to health professionals and providers, including financial support for general practices to provide multidisciplinary team-based (MDT) care.
The WIP consists of 3 incentive streams:
the Practice stream, which pays incentives to practices to support multidisciplinary team-based care by engaging a range of health professionals, including doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals, as well as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers and practitioners.
the Doctor Stream, which pays incentives directly to doctors providing primary care in Modified Monash (MM) 3-7 locations
the Rural Advanced Skill payment which will pay doctors directly to provide both primary care and emergency and/or advanced skills in MM3-7 locations.
Further information on each WIP incentive stream can be found on the Department of Health and Aged Care website.
WIP-Practice Stream: support for general practice
The WIP-Practice Stream helps general practices to meet the increasingly complex health needs of their patients by providing access to multidisciplinary team care in the clinic.
Practices are required to maintain their eligibility to receive payments. They must:
Be recognised as a general practice as defined by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP)
Be accredited, or registered for accreditation, as a general practice against the RACGP Standards for general practice
employ at least one full-time or part-time general practitioner
engage at least one eligible health professional
Maintain eligibility for Practice Incentives Program (PIP) – if a PIP consenting practice
Maintain a specified amount (at least $10 million) of public liability insurance as per the guidelines.
Which health professionals can practices engage under the WIP-PS?
Your practice can engage a wide range of health professionals, including allied health professionals, to meet the WIP Practice Stream (WIP-PS) criteria.
Eligible health professional types under the WIP-PS include:
nurse practitioners,
registered nurses,
midwives,
enrolled nurses,
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander practitioners and workers.
Allied health professional types include
audiologists,
chiropractors,
diabetes educators,
dietitians/nutritionists,
exercise physiologists,
occupational therapists,
orthoptists,
orthotists/prosthetists,
osteopaths,
paramedics,
pharmacists (non-dispensing role)
physiotherapists,
podiatrists, psychologists,
social workers and
speech pathologists.
Extra requirements apply for some professional types - refer to the WIP Practice Stream Guidelines.
How Brisbane Souths PHN is supporting practices with WIP-PS
Support to understand eligibility and requirements
Support to embed multidisciplinary models of care through quality improvement initiatives
Clarifying scope of practice and the range of activities that nurses and allied health professionals can contribute to in your practice
Sharing lessons learned and best practice models of care that could be implemented in your practice
More information
See the WIP Practice Stream Guidelines (Workforce Incentive Program Practice Stream Guidelines | Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care) for detailed explanations and examples of incentive payments.
Workforce Incentive Program – Practice Stream: www.health.gov.au/our-work/workforce-incentive-program/practice-stream
Services Australia: www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/workforce-incentive-program-wip-practice-stream