Founding member of the Scrap the Cap Alliance, The Australian Medical Association’s (AMA) President Dr Steve Hambleton says that the Coalition has shown a strong commitment to education and medical excellence with its decision to oppose the cap.

Hambleton, who identifies the cap as a tax on learning, says that the Alliance has been lobbying the Government for months to publically guarantee that genuine professional development such as medical training would be exempt from the proposed tax changes.

“The proposed cap on self-education would be a huge disincentive for doctors, especially young doctors and rural doctors, to improve their skills and provide better medical care to their patients and communities,” says Hambleton.

The Scrap the Cap Alliance currently consists of more than 60 member organisations supporting more than 1.6 million professionals, including universities, nurses, engineers, accountants, lawyers, veterinarians, allied health professionals, and small business operators.