ACCC Announces Decision on Medical Schools' Preference and Interview Policies

By Petrina Smith
Thursday, 20 November, 2014

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has issued a final decision re-authorising policies that govern the selection and interviewing of applicants to study medicine at Australian graduate-entry medical schools.

The Preference and Interview Policies are a collaboration between ten university medical schools in the GAMSAT Consortium.
Under the Preference Policy, applicants submit a single online application listing in order of preference up to six medical schools to which they wish to apply.
Under the One Interview Policy, qualifying applicants will receive only one offer for an interview. If an applicant is not offered a place by the interviewing medical school, the applicant’s interview results will be referred to their next nominated medical school.
“The ACCC is satisfied that there are steps in place to ensure the fairness and integrity of the selection and interview process,” ACCC Deputy Chair Dr Michael Schaper said.
“These policies streamline the application and interview process and produce cost savings for the medical schools. Students are also likely to benefit by avoiding the costs of attending multiple interviews.”
“This decision highlights how the higher education sector can use the authorisation process to enable collaborative arrangements that would otherwise raise competition law issues,” Dr Schaper said.
Medical schools will continue to compete for the preferences of applicants.
The universities currently in the GAMSAT Consortium are:

Australian National University

Deakin University

Flinders University

Griffith University

University of Melbourne

Monash University

University of Notre Dame Australia

University of Queensland

University of Western Australia

University of Wollongong.

Authorisation provides statutory protection from court action for conduct that might otherwise raise concerns under the competition provisions of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010. Broadly, the ACCC may grant an authorisation when it is satisfied that the public benefit from the conduct outweighs any public detriment, including that resulting from a lessening of competition.
The ACCC’s determination is available from the public register.