THE Federal Government’s decision to replace the RRMA system with a new remoteness classi fication will drive doctors from small country towns, rural doctors warn.Flaws are already starting to emerge in the government’s plan to base rural incentive pay ments on a new five-point scale called the Aus tralian Standard Geographical Classification — Remote Areas system, doctors say.The system — which will take effect from 1 July — determines areas by their distance from major centres. For example, it places the inland NSW town of Gundagai, which has a population of less than 2000 people, in the same ‘inner regional’ category as the beachside community of Port Macquarie, with a population of about 40,000. Gundagai is 160km from Canberra.The government...
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