The ACT branch of the Australian Medical Association is calling for better pay, conditions, and workplace culture for junior doctors, as nearly 100 new medical interns begin work in Canberra’s hospital system.
Canberra Health Services this week welcomed 94 medical interns, most of whom graduated from the ANU medical school last year.
63 per cent of this year’s interns are ANU graduates — compared with 53 per cent in 2024 and 50 per cent in 2025; international medical graduates filled many of the shortfalls in those years. A decade ago, more than three-quarters of CHS interns came from the ANU.
AMA ACT president Dr Kerrie Aust said it was encouraging to see more ANU medical graduates choosing to stay in Canberra for their internships.
“It’s great news for our health system, and for all Canberrans, that a high proportion of our best and brightest medical graduates from the ANU are staying in Canberra as interns,” Dr Aust said.
“It reflects the good work Canberra Health Services has been doing to improve the experiences of junior doctors.”
However, Dr Aust argued that the new recruits needed strong support and fair working conditions.
“Being a junior doctor is an incredibly difficult job, with long hours and significant responsibility,” Dr Aust said. “We know that doctors thrive when the culture around them is supportive, and when the working conditions are fair.”
She said the AMA ACT welcomed CHS’s growing focus on staff wellbeing and its connection to better patient outcomes, but warned that Canberra still faced challenges in attracting and retaining medical staff.
An AMA ACT survey of 49 graduating medical students conducted last month found that pay and workplace reputation influenced decisions to leave Canberra.
Graduates planning to move elsewhere cited lifestyle/liveability; having family/friends nearby; and workplace culture as their top three reasons. The fourth and fifth most important factors were workplace reputation (38 per cent) and pay (31 per cent).
47 per cent of graduates stayed in Canberra. The strongest influences were familiarity with the clinical system and environment; having family/friends local; and lifestyle and liveability.
“Exposure to Canberra Health Services throughout medical training is the number one factor influencing those who choose to stay in Canberra for their intern year,” Dr Aust said. “This underlines the importance of strengthening the close connection between CHS and the ANU medical program.”
However, none of the graduates staying in Canberra mentioned workplace reputation as a factor, and only one mentioned pay.
“Canberra is not as competitive as it should be when it comes to rates of pay for public hospital medical practitioners,” Dr Aust said.
The AMA ACT believes that paying junior doctors more and improving Canberra Health Services’ reputation would improve retention of ANU graduates in Canberra.
The organisation is negotiating with the ACT Government on an enterprise agreement to make Canberra an attractive place to work as a doctor.
Canberra Health Services response
A Canberra Health Services spokesperson said the organisation agreed it was “great news” that more ANU graduates chose to begin their medical careers in Canberra.
Of the 94 new medical interns who started at Canberra Hospital this week, 63 per cent were ANU graduates, up from 50 per cent last year.
“CHS is continuing to improve the experiences of junior doctors. We are embedding scores of initiatives and improvements to programs to ensure our junior doctors are nurtured personally and professionally.”
Initiatives aimed at wellbeing, workload balance, and professional development included a new pre-vocational medical officer position; expanded wellbeing and peer-support programs; a part-time psychologist dedicated to junior doctors; increased simulation training; protected teaching time; and a dedicated off-site wellbeing day for interns. CHS is also trialling additional weekend cover to improve workload balance.
“What is pleasing to see from the AMA’s survey of junior doctors are the priorities for junior doctors’ decisions to stay in Canberra and with our service, notably due to our clinical system and work environment and the lifestyle choice to stay here with family and friends,” the spokesperson said.
“It is really pleasing to see that CHS is increasingly seen as an employer of choice for ANU graduates, and that Canberra is a desirable place to live. This means that we are able to keep graduating students in Canberra, an invaluable addition to the team providing care for Canberrans and those from the regions.”
