There is a shortage of general practitioners in rural Australia. Several recent State and federal government reports have highlighted the difficulties of rural practice. One of the reasons commonly cited for the shortage of country doctors is the lack of appropriate training in Australia's medical schools and the Family Medicine Programme. This survey of the heads of departments of community medicine/general practice of Australia's 10 medical schools and of the State directors of the Family Medicine Programme documents the present efforts to train doctors for rural general practice. A 100% response was achieved. The responses indicate much interest and effort from the Family Medicine Programme in developing rural training schemes. Though the community medicine/general practice departments demonstrate considerable interest and innovation, they are hampered by lack of resources and negative attitudes of some specialist colleagues. Overall, the main impediments are: lack of "affirmative action" admissions policies to recruit rural students; insufficient curricular time for teaching the principles of general practice; students' lack of confidence in the procedural aspects of rural practice; lack of appropriate training posts in anaesthetics; lack of appropriate general practice training posts at regional hospitals; and lack of financial resources. Some suggestions are given to improve training for rural practice in Australia.