Transferring GP practice ownership

Two different transitions, often confused

A practice change-of-ownership is almost always two things happening together:

• The business entity transfers. New directorship / shareholders of the trading company, new ABN registration (or novation), new bank accounts, assignment of the lease, novation of staff contracts and doctor service agreements, re-issue of insurance, re-registration for payroll tax, new Medicare provider arrangements.
• Access to the practice’s own records transfers. Clinic management software (clinic-admin, your PMS, HotDoc/Automed, Xero), bookings systems, email accounts and shared drives, patient records (per the Privacy Act), the physical practice-records cabinet.

Where to go for the full process

The checklist below is a plain-English summary of the operational buckets — tick each item as your advisors confirm them, or hand to the new owner on day one. For the full detail (timing, documentation, pitfalls) use the resource above.

The company, ABN and tax registrations

• Transfer or dissolve the trading entity (company, trust or sole trader) — solicitor + accountant drive this.
• ASIC filings for directorship / shareholder changes.
• New ABN registered (or novation of the existing one through ABR).
• Register the new entity for GST, PAYG withholding and (if above threshold) state payroll tax — GP concessions in your state are entity-specific and don’t automatically carry over. See the state-by-state position.
• Transfer or close bank accounts; redirect merchant facilities (eftpos, Tyro).
• Confirm Xero / accounting software access and transfer the subscription.
• Notify the ATO of the change.

Provider agreements and the practice location

• Update the practice location’s Medicare registration with the new owner’s details via Services Australia / HPOS (not the doctor’s personal provider numbers — those stay with the doctor).
• Update direct-deposit bank account details for Medicare payments at the same time.
• Re-confirm MyMedicare registered-practice status under the new entity if applicable.
• Re-link each doctor’s provider number for the location to the new entity (the number stays with the doctor-location pair; the ABN behind it changes).
• Update DVA provider arrangements if the practice sees DVA patients.
• Official source: Services Australia — Health professionals.

Registration and standards continuity

• Confirm each doctor’s AHPRA registration lists the practice as a principal place of practice (updates as doctors join or leave).
• Notify your RACGP accreditation body (QPA / AGPAL / GPA) of the change in ownership — accreditation is attached to the practice, not the owner, but the agreement is usually re-signed.
• Confirm the practice’s accreditation expiry date and whether a re-survey is required under the new entity.
• Update the MDO (medical defence organisation) with any practice-level cover change.
• Official sources: AHPRA, RACGP — Running a practice, NGPA accreditation scheme.

Contracts, super and leave

• Novate or re-execute every employed-staff contract to the new entity. Fair Work Act transfer of business rules decide what carries across.
• Accrued leave — agree whether it transfers or is paid out at settlement.
• Renegotiate every doctor service agreement with the new entity. Percentage splits, payroll-tax structure and non-compete clauses are the pressure points. See the clinic-admin agreements guide.
• Update super funds and PAYG set-up for all staff under the new entity.
• Reissue each person’s login / access on all clinic systems (PMS, HotDoc, clinic-admin, Xero) in the new entity’s workspace.
• Hold a staff briefing — introduce the new owner, confirm roles, and name a single point of contact for questions.

Re-issuing the contracts attached to the practice

• Re-issue public liability insurance in the new entity’s name.
• Re-issue professional indemnity (practice-level) with the new entity.
• Re-issue building / contents / business interruption insurance.
• Re-issue management liability / directors insurance under the new entity.
• Set up workers’ compensation under the new entity (state-specific).
• Assign (or re-sign) the commercial lease — landlord consent required.
• Review every software subscription and vendor contract (PMS, HotDoc, Automed, clinic-admin, Xero, pathology, radiology, SMS, accounting): cancel, transfer or re-register under the new owner.

Custodianship, access and the Privacy Act

• Document the retention and access arrangement for clinical records in the sale contract — required by RACGP & AHPRA.
• Confirm the new owner understands their obligations under the Privacy Act and the Australian Privacy Principles.
• Notify patients of the change (and of any change to how they access their records) — the AMA has guidance on wording.
• Arrange physical records: who holds the practice-records cabinet, and the chain of custody for inactive files.
• Confirm backup and disaster-recovery arrangements continue under the new entity.

How the portal transitions

clinic-admin isn’t the right tool to run the sale itself — that belongs with your solicitor, accountant and MDO. But two things in the portal are directly affected by a change of ownership:

• Transfer the clinic owner role. On the Staff list, the current owner clicks 👑 Make owner next to the incoming owner’s staff record. The previous owner steps down to admin automatically; the change is logged in the Activity Log. Only the current owner (or support) can make this change.
• Update the Stripe billing email. clinic-admin’s subscription is a Stripe subscription in the owner’s name. The new owner updates billing email through Stripe’s customer portal — the link is in the welcome email.
• Confirm the subscription is current and not about to lapse through the handover.
• Walk the new owner through their Clinic Insurances, Key Dates, Compliance and Policy Library — make sure the review dates and expiries are known.

Where to confirm current detail

• RecruitaGP — Practice Transitions — the detailed step-by-step this page summarises
• Services Australia — Health professionals (Medicare, MyMedicare, HPOS, provider numbers)
• AHPRA (practitioner registration)
• RACGP — Running a practice (accreditation continuity)
• ASIC (directorship / shareholder changes), ABR (ABN), ATO (GST, PAYG)
• Your state revenue office for the payroll-tax re-registration (QRO, Revenue NSW, SRO Victoria, RevenueSA, ACT Revenue, RevenueWA)
• A health-law solicitor and a practice-experienced accountant — essential for any transition