Locum vs Permanent GP in Australia (2026)

Almost every clinic owner reaches for a locum when a room suddenly empties. It's the right instinct, patients still need to be seen. The question is whether you're using a locum to buy time for a permanent fix, or to avoid making one.

What a locum GP really costs

Per day, a locum can look comparable to a salaried doctor. Sustained, it rarely is. Locum day rates sit well above the equivalent permanent cost, and when booked through an agency there's a margin on top. Crucially, it's pure holding cost: money spent to not fall further behind, not to build the practice. A locum doesn't grow a patient panel, doesn't take on care-plan or chronic-disease management continuity, and walks out the door with no lasting attachment to your clinic. Three months of locum cover can quietly cost more than the search for a permanent doctor would have.

What a permanent GP gives you

A permanent GP is the opposite trade: higher commitment, far better return. They build a panel that stays, take ownership of complex and ongoing care, contribute to the culture of the practice, and turn an empty room into a compounding asset. Every week a permanent doctor is in the chair, the value of that chair grows, where a locum simply maintains the status quo at a premium.

The continuity problem nobody prices in

The hidden cost of leaning on locums is continuity of care. Patients notice when they see a different face every visit; some drift to a practice that can offer a regular GP. Rotating locums fragment care plans, chronic-disease management and the trust that keeps a panel loyal. That erosion doesn't show up on an invoice, but it shows up in your billings, and it's the reason a "temporary" locum arrangement so often ends up quietly expensive.

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When a locum genuinely makes sense

Locums earn their rate when the gap is defined and temporary:

Parental leave or a sabbatical, where the permanent doctor is returning to a known date.
A sudden departure, to keep patients seen while you run a proper permanent search.
Seasonal or short-term surges that don't justify a permanent headcount.

In each case the locum is a bridge, not a destination. The danger sign is when you can't say when the bridge ends.

Why the permanent fix keeps getting deferred

Most owners would prefer a permanent GP. They settle for rolling locums because the permanent search feels slow and uncertain, job ads return overseas applicants needing sponsorship, recruiters charge $25k–$40k with no guarantee, and the months drag on. So the locum stays "just a little longer," and the holding cost compounds. The real problem isn't a preference for locums; it's that the permanent route is broken. Fix the route and the dilemma mostly disappears.

A faster path to a permanent hire

The permanent search is slow because job boards only reach the small share of doctors actively looking. The doctors worth hiring, the experienced, settled, fellowship-qualified ones, aren't on Seek; they'd move for the right opportunity but they're not applying. Reaching that passive 90% directly, by specialty and location, verified against AHPRA, and responding the same day, is what compresses a multi-month search into weeks. Do that, and a locum becomes what it should be, a short bridge, not the plan.

A locum buys you time. A system buys you the permanent doctor.

Next: see what GP recruitment really costs, learn how to hire a GP in Australia, or book a call.

Locum vs permanent GP: common questions

Per day a locum can look comparable, but locum day rates plus agency margins make sustained cover far more expensive than a salaried or contracted permanent GP. The deeper difference is what the money buys: a locum is a holding cost that keeps you from falling behind, while a permanent hire builds a panel, takes on ongoing care and grows the practice.

When the gap is defined and temporary: parental leave or a sabbatical with a known return date, a sudden departure while you run a proper permanent search, or a short-term surge that doesn't justify permanent headcount. The danger sign is when you can't say when the locum arrangement ends.

Using job ads and recruiters, vacancies commonly stay open 60 days to well over a year, which is exactly why locum cover drags on. Reaching the passive doctors who never see a job ad, and responding the same day they reply, is what compresses the search into weeks.

Sometimes, and it can be a genuinely low-risk hire, because both sides have already trialled the fit. But read the locum agency agreement first: most include a permanent-placement or transfer fee if you hire their locum directly. Get the conversion terms in writing before you raise it with the doctor, and weigh that fee against the cost of continuing to search.

A locum booking simply ends on its contracted date, and many agreements let either side end it at short notice, sometimes days. Permanent GP contracts typically set a notice period measured in weeks or months. That asymmetry matters: locum cover can vanish quickly, while a departing permanent GP usually gives you a runway, use it to start the next search immediately, not after the farewell morning tea.

Yes, and it's the cost nobody prices in. Patients who see a different face each visit drift to practices that can offer a regular GP, and rotating locums fragment care plans and chronic-disease management. The erosion never appears on an invoice, but it shows up in billings and panel loyalty over time.

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