Comprehensive GP Receptionist Certificate
Build confidence at the GP front desk. For receptionists and administration staff in Australian general practice: new starters in their first weeks, and experienced staff checking their habits against current rules. Every topic ends with what to do at the desk, the words to say and who to hand it to.
Already completed this training? Quick refresher
A quick reminder for experienced staff. Revisit only what you need.
- Before routine work: emergency cues use the emergency pathway; identity, authority and clinical urgency are separate checks.
- Write the patient’s words, action, receiver and time. Confirm someone accepted the handover.
- Use your local desk tools for opening, closing, referrals and the vaccine-fridge escalation route.
Open the lessons and tools. Use current local procedures and sources.
This optional refresher does not record a new completion. Certificates require the full course and its assessments.
Find a desk tool
Revisiting training? Open the lesson containing the tool you need. New starters should work through the lessons in order.
Is this the right starting point?
Choose this course for a broad foundation in the front-desk role. Already comfortable with that foundation? Medicare & Billing Conversations offers focused practice for staff handling fees and claims; Results, Recalls and Referrals focuses on ownership, cover and follow-up across the team. Choose additional courses for a relevant learning need; you do not need to buy them all.
See the full course details, free sample and enrolment guidance.
What you will be able to do
- Open and close the practice from a checklist: phone divert, fridge reading, EFTPOS settlement, unbilled appointments.
- Recognise a red flag, run the emergency sequence (including alone) and handle a self-harm disclosure.
- Check identity with three identifiers, stop duplicates, book from the practice’s rules and write a note that stands up later.
- Protect privacy, spot phishing, explain fees without promising a rebate, and handle referrals, results, records requests, aggressive patients and the vaccine fridge as the reception job.
Course at a glance
- Structure: a Welcome with the Day One Survival Kit, then ten modules (0–9) of short topics written to be read on a phone between patients, with practice checks and desk tools to fill in with your practice’s details.
- Time: about 250 minutes for a careful first completion; actual time varies, usually spread over two or three weeks alongside induction.
- Quizzes: eight module checks with 49 questions in total, including one 10-question Module 1 assessment, followed by a 16-question final assessment: 65 questions overall. Module checks have an 80% pass mark; the final assessment requires 100%. You can retry after reading the feedback.
- Access: 12 months, with downloadable desk tools.
- Certificate: a named certificate once every step is done and the final assessment is passed.
The people and practice in this course (Rivergum General Practice) are made up. Rules are drawn from MBS Online, Services Australia, the RACGP Standards for general practices, the OAIC, healthdirect and state health services, linked in each topic.
Scope: professional development, not accredited CPD. It supports your workplace induction and does not replace it, and it is not CPR or first-aid training.