To fulfill the shortage of health professionals, a rural doctors’ lobby group said, increasing the number of locums in regional centres would help.

If city GPs commit to a four-week locum placement in a rural community then they would be given emergency training, Federal government announced.

For giving support to doctors working in remote areas, a rural education assistance programme has been designed to increase the number of locums.

The chief executive of the New South Wales Rural Doctors Network, Ian Cameron, said, “It will address one of the demands of regional medics. On its own nothing's going to make a huge difference, but everything that helps is good. Ever since we first started doing research into what rural doctors want - having time off, having locums available has come up consistently as one of the most important things we can do."

The Minister for Indigenous Health, Rural and Regional Health, Warren Snowdon, however felt that doctors’ shortage would not be solved but this step would help in a way.

Snowdon said, "We've got a long-term issue here with workforce shortages. People who come through the universities in 2012, 2013 won't be effective for another four or five years.”