What credentials do I need to work as a locum in NSW?+
AHPRA registration (national) plus a NSW Working With Children Check issued by the Office of the Children's Guardian when your role involves patients under 18. Doctors need Schedule 8 authority from NSW Health Pharmaceutical Services Unit for S8 prescribing beyond 2 months or to drug-dependent patients, and SafeScript NSW must be checked before prescribing monitored medicines. icare is the Nominal Insurer for workers compensation; confirm your contractor cover before your first shift.
How does Thomas and Naaz affect my service fee in NSW?+
The NSW Court of Appeal decision in Thomas and Naaz ([2023] NSWCA 40) confirmed that payments from a medical centre to contractor GPs can be wages for payroll tax. Revenue NSW applies the relevant-contract test broadly, and for specialists, dentists, and allied health, workplaces typically build 40 to 50 per cent service fees to cover the 5.45 per cent payroll tax exposure plus admin overhead. For contractor GPs, the Bulk Billing Support Initiative provides a payroll-tax rebate from 4 September 2024 where the workplace bulk-bills at least 80 per cent of GP services in Metropolitan Sydney (a lower threshold applies elsewhere in NSW). Sessional classifies every workplace's exposure and shows the post-service-fee yield per shift so you can compare contracts properly.
Is direct billing viable in NSW?+
Direct patient billing is the dominant model for many Sydney GP clinics, but the high Thomas and Naaz exposure means workplaces bake the payroll-tax cost into their service fee. Your gross billings can look strong while the landed yield drops materially. Sessional reconciles gross billings, workplace service fee, payroll-tax exposure signal, and your GST position per shift so the cashflow picture is real, not theoretical.
What rural incentives apply in NSW?+
The Workforce Incentive Program Doctor Stream applies in MMM 3 to 7 towns across NSW. Regional centres like Orange, Dubbo, Tamworth, Wagga Wagga, and Lismore are MMM 3 to 4 and qualify for base loading, and remote NSW communities qualify for higher tiers. Sessional tags every shift with its postcode MMM and separates base rate from rural loading so you can validate the uplift matches the agency or workplace contract.
Which Local Health Districts does Sessional cover in NSW?+
All of them. Sessional is workplace-agnostic: add Sydney LHD, South Western Sydney, Western Sydney, Northern Sydney, South Eastern Sydney, Illawarra Shoalhaven, Hunter New England, Central Coast, Northern NSW, Mid North Coast, Western NSW, Far West, Murrumbidgee, or Southern NSW to your profile and the ledger tracks shifts, invoices, and payments without Sessional needing a relationship with the network.
How does Sessional handle cross-border NSW and ACT or VIC work?+
NSW borders three jurisdictions and many locums work Albury-Wodonga or Queanbeyan-Canberra rotations. Sessional keeps one ledger across states and surfaces the per-workplace credentialing differences (WWCC versus WWVP, S8 authority per state, workers compensation scheme) so nothing lapses when you cross a line.