The changes make the retention of GPs easier, by providing for tender exemption for varying and extending contracts for regional medical services.
Below is a short guide to the key changes:
Rural GP and dentists tender exemption
- Recognising the importance of maintaining medical and dental services in our regions, a tender exemption for renewing or extending a contract with a medical or dental service is being provided to regional local governments.
- This exemption means those local governments will be able to maintain the services of an existing doctor or dentist without needing to call for public tenders.
- This exemption is only available to local governments outside the Perth metropolitan area and City of Mandurah.
Novation of contracts
- An additional tender exemption is provided for where a local government novates a contract.
- As an example, in the context of a dental service, this means where the dental practice is sold to another dentist, the local government can novate the existing contract with the old dentist to the new dentist.
- This improves local government contract management, allowing novation of contracts to occur. Local governments should however make sure it is in their interest to novate he contract.
- This exemption is available to all local governments.
Dental leasing exemption
- An exemption from the property disposal requirements has been provided for the leasing of land for dental services.
- This is to align with the new exemption provided for regional medical and dental services.
- This exemption is however available to all local governments, like the existing medical services exemption is.
For more information contact actreview@dlgsc.wa.gov.au