Overview

The Far North Queensland Rural Division of General Practice was established in August 1993 following an initiative by the Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care to promote the integration of general practitioners more fully into the health system and to advance health and welfare of people in Far North Queensland. The Division is one of 19 Divisions established in Queensland and one of three rural divisions.

The Far North Queensland Rural Division of General Practice Assn Inc was established as an Incorporated Association in October 1993. The Division Office is situated in Malanda on the Atherton Tableland which is central to the three largest concentrations of Members in the South Coast (Innisfail-Tully-Mission Beach), Tableland (ranging from Ravenshoe to Kuranda) and North Coast (Mossman-Port Douglas).

The FNQ Rural Division covers a geographical area of 266,462 square kilometres stretching from Tully in the south to the Torres Strait in the north including the Cape York Peninsula but excluding Cairns City.

In 2003 the residential population was 112,263 in the region covered by the FNQ Rural Division of General Practice of which 20% were indigenous and a further 14% are from non English speaking backgrounds.

Tourism, especially in the Port Douglas area, generated visitor accommodation revenue of 115 million dollars for the twelve months to 30/9/2003 indicating the size of the visitor population staying within the Division boundaries at any one time. This adds a significant number of people in addition to the resident population utilizing local health services. The Division has five Queensland Health Districts including Torres and Northern Peninsula, Cape York, Tableland, Innisfail and Cairns(excluding Cairns City).

At any one time the Division is home to 110-115 general practitioners with approximately 70 working privately in group or solo practices. The remaining Doctors are employed by one of Queensland Health's five district health services or the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) which is based in Cairns and services much of the region's remote areas. The percentage breakdown of GPs is as follows:

Corresponding Health Service Districts:

• Cairns Health Service District
• Tablelands Health Service District
• Cape York Health Service District
• Torres Strait and Northern Peninsula Area Health Service District
• Innisfail Health Service District

The Division covers three Rural & Remote Metropolitan Area (or RRMA) classifications:

• Category 5
  • Other Rural – 56.25%
  • includes Tully, Innisfail, Malanda, Mossman & Port Douglas
• Category 6
  • Remote Centre – 16.52%
  • includes Mareeba & Kuranda
• Category 7
  • Other Remote – 26.96%
  • includes Cooktown, Weipa & Ravenshoe

As a rural Division a number of unique challenges are faced. General practitioners in rural areas have traditionally been disadvantaged because of their isolation and the limited amount of support services available in rural areas. The Division seeks to overcome these difficulties through providing accessible CME and professional development activities as well as a variety of other programs such as MAHS (see Programs section for more information).

Membership

Approximately 90% of general practitioners in private practice within the Division are members. Members receive CME benefits and regular updates regarding local, state and commonwealth initiatives through weekly and monthly newsletters. GPs within the Division come from a wide range of backgrounds:

Residency status overview:

Age of general practitioners within the Division: