How we verify DPA and MMM before we shortlist.
Every advert on our jobs board carries a location classification and the date we checked it. This page explains where that comes from, what it means, and what we deliberately do not claim.
One wrong classification costs a doctor months, and a practice a hire.
A doctor subject to a section 19AB restriction generally needs to work in a Distribution Priority Area to access Medicare benefits during the moratorium. If a practice is not in a DPA catchment, the doctor cannot get a provider number for that location, however good the fit. That is not something either side can negotiate around after a contract is signed.
Source: Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, section 19AB, last verified 14 September 2026.
DPA is set by GP catchment, not by suburb or postcode. The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing draws those catchments from patient flows, population, workforce and geography, so two practices in the same suburb can sit in different catchments. A check done on a suburb name is not a check.
Source: Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, Distribution Priority Area, last verified 14 September 2026.
Four steps, done the same way every time.
We ask for the street address
Not the suburb, not the postcode. The full street address of the practice where the doctor would work, because that is the only input that resolves to a single catchment.
We look it up on the Health Workforce Locator
The Department’s own tool, which returns the Distribution Priority Area status, the Modified Monash Model category and the remoteness classifications for that address.
We record the result with the date
The classification and the date we checked it go on the advert. If you see MMM 3 and DPA on one of our roles, someone entered that address and read that result on the date shown.
We assess the doctor against it
Date of first Australian registration, residency status and registration type, checked against the location before any introduction is made.
Tool: Health Workforce Locator, Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. Last verified 14 September 2026.
What a verified classification does not mean.
- It is a snapshot, not a guarantee. DPA is reviewed annually and MMM is updated after each Census. A classification correct in March can change at the next update. That is why every advert shows a date rather than a bare status.
- It is not an exemption. Working in a DPA location is the usual route to Medicare access during the moratorium, but the decision sits with the Department and Services Australia, not with us or the practice.
- It is not a registration outcome. Ahpra, the Medical Board of Australia and the specialist Colleges decide registration and supervision. We prepare and lodge; they decide.
- It is not immigration advice. Where a role involves sponsorship, that goes to a registered migration agent.
Sources: Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, Distribution Priority Area; Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, Modified Monash Model; Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, section 19AB exemptions. All last verified 14 September 2026.
You do not have to take our word for it.
The Locator is public and free. Enter your practice address and you will see the same result we do. If your figure differs from ours, tell us: either the address resolved differently or the classification has changed since our check, and both are worth knowing.
Unsure where you sit with section 19AB?
Tell us where you trained, when you were first registered in Australia and where you want to work. We will tell you plainly what applies, with the source. No guarantees, no guesses.
Ask us