What GP recruitment really costs
The quoted fee is only part of the bill. Here's the full cost of hiring a GP in Australia, agency fees, job-board spend, locum cover and the empty chair itself, and how a system you own compares.
When clinics tot up the cost of a GP hire, they usually count the recruiter invoice and stop there. The real number is bigger, and most of it is hiding in the weeks the chair sat empty.
Recruitment agency fees
Specialist medical recruiters in Australia typically charge $25,000–$40,000 per placement. The fee is contingent, you pay on a successful hire, but it's charged every single time, and you keep nothing: not the candidate shortlist, not the search, not the relationships. Hire three GPs over two years across two sites and you've paid six figures in fees for work you can't reuse.
Job boards & advertising
A Seek listing is cheap to post but expensive in hidden ways: hundreds of dollars per ad, weeks of screening time, and a candidate pool skewed to the small active segment and overseas applicants needing sponsorship. The direct spend is low; the cost is in the months and the mediocre yield.
Locum cover
While the role is open, many clinics pay for locum cover to keep patients seen. It's necessary, but locum day rates are high and it's pure holding cost, money spent to not fall further behind, not to solve the vacancy.
The cost everyone forgets: the empty chair
This is the big one. A single full-time GP room generates substantial billings; when it's empty, those billings simply don't happen. Depending on patient volume, average fee and your billing share, an empty chair commonly costs $300,000 or more in lost billings a year, often dwarfing every other line on this page combined. It's the most expensive item in the building and the one that never appears on an invoice.
A clear figure for the room sitting empty.
The real cost, side by side
Two ways to fill the same chair, and what each one costs you over time.
| Recruiter / job ads | A system you own | |
|---|---|---|
| First hire | $25k–$40k placement fee | One-off build fee |
| Every hire after | Another full fee | $0, re-run what you own |
| Across sites | Pay per location | Reuse everywhere |
| What you keep | Nothing | Data, outreach & pipeline |
| Reach | The active <10% | The passive 90% |
Why owning the system wins on cost
Reyah's done-for-you build is a single one-off fee, half on signing, half on your first hire's start date, with no retainers and no per-placement commissions. Against even one empty chair, it pays for itself fast; across multiple hires and multiple sites, it isn't close. And because you keep the system, the next vacancy costs you effort, not another five-figure cheque. We scope the exact number with you on a call.
A recruiter is a cost you pay again and again. A system is an asset you buy once.
Want the full picture for your clinic? Run the calculator, read how to hire a GP in Australia, or book a call.