What does it really cost to find GPs?
See what agencies charge to fill your team, what an empty chair costs you, and how much you'd save with Heart Bridge Health. It's free and takes about 2 minutes.
1Your practice
2What doctors do you need?
3What an empty chair costs you
4What an agency charges to place a GP
Typically $15,000–$40,000 per doctor. If you're not sure, use what you've been quoted from an agency.
5Locum rate
We only count the agency's margin here — not the doctor's own pay, which you'd pay either way.
6Advertising the role
Typically $200–$5,000 per ad, depending on the board and whether you boost it.
7Conferences & booths
A stand typically runs $2,000–$20,000+. Include travel, freight and staff time if you can.
8Google & Meta ads
9Your practice manager's time
Costed at salary ÷ 1,748 working hours a year (38 hrs × 46 weeks).
10Which plan suits you
Doctors who apply to you are always free— once your $10,000 is released from escrow. You only pay $200 when you approach a doctor first, and it's refunded if they never reply. On the Monthly Plan, even that's free.
Count only the doctors you approach first. Anyone who applies to you costs nothing.
2 ads are free on the Annual Licence, then $500 per pack of 5. Unlimited and free on the Monthly Plan.
Our Monthly Plan is $850/mo on a fixed 2-year term. The Annual Licence ($10,000/yr) has no lock-in.
Not tight, but would rather not pay up front? Join before 1 May 2027 and the Annual Licence sits in escrow — nothing’s payable until your first doctor commences.
That's 5.7× cheaper than using agencies.
And you get unlimited GPs — not just one.
This is what an empty GP chair costs you — every year it stays empty:
Doing nothing is the most expensive choice of all. Fill the chair with Heart Bridge Health for $11,700.
Annual Licence
Your $10,000 licence, plus $1,700 for the doctors you approach and your ads.
At 6 doctors approached, that's $1,200 in contact fees. If you'll approach more, the Monthly Plan — with free outreach — works out better.
Prefer smaller payments? The Monthly Plan is $850 a month (2-year term).
Doctors are already on the app. Download it free and start today.
All figures are estimates based on your own answers, and exclude GST. Heart Bridge Health fees are charged per clinic location, not per legal entity. The Annual Licence gives you unlimited GPs for 12 months across locum, permanent, telehealth, occupational health and skin. Doctors who apply to you are free once your $10,000 is released from escrow; the $200 contact fee applies only to doctors you approach first, and is refunded if they don't reply. Our Clinic Terms of Business prevails.
© 2026 Heart Bridge Health · GP Culture & Care Pty Ltd · ABN 86 674 209 397. All rights reserved.
What does it cost to find a GP in Australia?
Finding a GP is rarely a single invoice. A permanent placement through an agency typically costs $15,000 to $40,000 per doctor. A locum agency instead adds a margin of about 12–18%on top of the doctor’s hourly or daily rate. On top of that sit advertising, conference stands, Google and Meta ads, and the hours your practice manager loses checking whether an applicant is even eligible.
Then there is the cost nobody invoices you for: an empty GP chair. While a room sits empty you lose billings, government incentives, the allied health and pathology tenancies a busy practice can support, and patients who move to another clinic.
This free calculator adds up every one of those costs from your own numbers, then compares the total against Heart Bridge Health — a direct marketplace where one flat price covers unlimited GPs for 12 months, with no commission and no per-shift fee.
Common questions about the cost of finding a GP
- How much does it cost to find a GP through an agency in Australia?
- A permanent GP placement fee usually runs $15,000 to $40,000 per doctor. Locum agencies instead add a margin of about 12–18% on top of the doctor’s hourly or daily rate. This free calculator lets you enter your own figures and adds up the full yearly cost.
- What do locum GP agencies charge?
- Locum GP rates in Australia commonly run $120–$250 an hour, and the agency adds a margin of around 12–18% on top of the doctor’s hourly or daily rate. Across a year of leave and gap cover, that margin alone can run into the tens of thousands — which the calculator works out from the hours you need.
- What is a permanent GP placement fee?
- It is the one-off fee an agency charges to place a permanent GP, typically $15,000 to $40,000. Many clinics pay it for telehealth, occupational-health and skin doctors too. Agencies usually pro-rata the fee down when a doctor is needed below a full 38-hour week.
- What does an unfilled GP chair cost a clinic?
- More than most owners realise. An empty GP room loses a year of billings you would have kept, government incentives tied to the doctor, the allied health and pathology tenancies a busy practice can support, and patients who drift to another clinic. The calculator adds this “empty chair” cost alongside what you spend to find a doctor.
- Is there a cheaper way to find GPs than an agency?
- Yes. Heart Bridge Health is a direct marketplace: one flat price covers unlimited GPs for 12 months across locum, permanent, telehealth, occupational health and skin — with no commission and no per-shift fee. The calculator shows exactly how much you would save against the agency route.