Area of need

The Area of Need (AON) program assists in the provision of general practice and specialist medical services to locations in Tasmania with limited access. The program:

• assists employers in Tasmania's primarily rural general practitioner sites who are experiencing difficulty recruiting doctors with specialist registration.
• aims to recruit suitably qualified overseas-trained doctors to positions approved as an AON.

How the AON program works

• The Principal Medical Advisor, Deputy Principal Medical Advisor and Medical Director, GP and Primary Care carry ministerial delegations for AON declarations under section 67(5) of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (Tasmania).
• The AON Declaration Policy provides the process that health services wishing to apply must follow.
• The process of granting an AON Declaration is managed in line with the principles of natural justice and procedural fairness ensuring high ethical standards are maintained.

About the AON Declaration

• The policy provides that health services wishing to apply for an AON Declaration must follow principles that underpin the declaration of an AON in Tasmania.
• Criteria against which all AON applications are assessed by the Minister or their delegate.
• The process of granting an AON Declaration will be managed in line with the principles of natural justice and procedural fairness ensuring high ethical standards are maintained.
• Applications will only be considered via the formally documented process and assessed against published criteria as detailed in the AON Assessment Protocol.

AON Declaration documents

District of Workforce shortage

• AON Declarations for general practitioner and rural placements are closely linked with District of Workforce Shortage Declarations (DWS Declarations).
• DWS Declarations are determined by the Department of Health and Ageing and are linked to the provision of Medicare Provider Numbers.
• Further information and a listing of DWS locations can be found on the Doctor Connect website

Helpful AON links

More information

General Practice

General Practice and Primary Care

Phone: 6777 4291

Email: [email protected]

Specialist

Office of the Chief Medical Officer

Phone: 6166 0410

Email: [email protected]