Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support the Health and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2012. Prior to my main contribution to this debate I would like to pick up on a couple of things that the previous speaker said. To me it underlines the fact that he does not really understand what a Medicare Local is. He said in his contribution to this debate that he does not know why the Medicare Locals could not remain as the urban divisions of general practice. Now, the urban divisions did a wonderful job. I have had two very strong urban divisions within the area I live—the Hunter and the Central Coast. They did wonderful jobs, but a Medicare Local is not an urban division of general practice. A Medicare Local involves a number of health professionals. A Medicare Local works as a bridge between the primary care in the community and the public sector. So the first point I would like to make in this debate is that a Medicare Local is not an urban division of general practice. I am sure the previous speaker will take that on board.

This legislation has four major parts to it. It looks at the Food Standards Australia New Zealand Act 1991 to correct referencing inconsistencies within the act. These are fairly minor inconsistencies. They arose when the act was last amended in 2010. At the time, certain paragraphs were repealed and substituted with new subparagraphs. But the reference to the repealed paragraphs were not consequently adjusted to reflect the changes—removing references to changes under subparagraphs 146(6)(b)(i) and 146(6)(b)(ii) and replacing them with references in 146 and removing references to changes being picked up under 146. So those are quite minor amendments to items that needed to be corrected.

This legislation also recognises the ability for specialist trainees at any recognised medical college to perform certain procedures under direct supervision in the private setting, with the procedures being deemed to have been performed by the supervising specialist and with the supervising specialist retaining the right to any bulk billed Medicare fees. This is a very important change. It expands the training capacity and will now allow trainee specialists to perform procedures in the private sector. This widens the scope. Previously it was only surgeons who were able to act in such a way. These changes will allow other specialists such as in orthopaedics, ophthalmology, and obstetrics and gynaecology to work in the same way as the surgeons can. This is very fair and it needs to happen.

We have all heard how the state system has not been able to provide enough places, particularly in New South Wales where the O'Farrell government tends to want to cut public services and health. There have been enormous cutbacks in health by that government whilst the federal government is giving money to health and investing in the training of doctors. The state government is ripping money out of health.

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