Andrew Charlton (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of the Health Insurance Amendment (Professional Services Review Scheme) Bill 2023. This is a classic Labor bill. It's a classic Labor bill because it seeks to strengthen Medicare, which every year enables millions of Australians to access our country's world-class health care. And it's a classic Labor bill because it seeks to improve integrity and trust in our public institutions. This bill will do that by enabling direct consultation with peak bodies when it comes to the appointment of statutory office holders of the PSR, rather than consulting through the AMA. It does that by creating the position of associate directors to make the director of the PSR more accountable. And it does that by removing the veto power of the Australian Medical Association over the appointment of the Director of Professional Services Review. In short, it means more accountability and more transparency through more independence.

This bill and the changes within come in the aftermath of the Philip review. Commissioned by the Albanese government and conducted by independent expert health economist Dr Pradeep Philip, the review was tasked with looking at the integrity of Medicare and its compliance mechanisms. When the Philip review was released, one journalist said of its findings:

The report … does not pull any punches about the train wreck Medicare has become after decades of Band-Aid solutions and a lack of scrutiny …

We're a Labor government. That means we're serious about protecting Australia's health care and we're serious about protecting Medicare. The report found that the legislation governance systems, processes and tools are currently not fit for purpose, leaving the door wide open for significant levels of noncompliance, fraud and billing errors. Dr Philip found that this noncompliance currently costs up to $3 billion. At a time when the cost of living is hitting households hard across the country, and in my electorate of Paramatta, Australians simply can't afford that, and the government can't afford to continue the pattern of neglect.

When this report was released, in April of this year, the Minister for Health and Aged Care, Mark Butler, said: 'We are determined to act on this as soon as we appropriately can. We're not going to let the grass grow under our feet in responding to this report.' This bill does just that. It signals the end of that pattern of neglect set in place by the former coalition government. It begins the process of closing loopholes and doors for fraud and noncompliance in our healthcare system. Importantly, it continues the work of bringing back integrity into government.

It's important to know that this bill also comes at a critical time in our nation's history. It comes at a time when trust in our medical professionals, our doctors and nurses in particular, faces a decline. Roy Morgan research between 2017 and 2021 showed a decline in trust in our health professionals and our health system, with doctors down seven per cent and the health system down more broadly. It won't come as a surprise that faith in public institutions and government suffered crippling blows over a decade of neglect and abuse of authority in the previous government. Trust in government reached an all-time low in 2019 and has only risen since the election of the Albanese Labor government. This bill has been described as making a small change to the Professional Services Review, but it's the neglect of risks over time—small weaknesses, lack of integrity—that now represents one of the biggest risks to accountability and transparency in government. This bill takes a step to end that.

My electorate of Parramatta is home to thousands of stellar professionals who make our community a world-class destination for health care. I recently visited the Good Street Medical Centre in Westmead, a suburb of Parramatta, and met Asha Kandiban, the practice manager. Asha told me about her experiences in running the practice. It's a fully bulk-billed clinic and helps to make up part of the world-class medical precinct of Westmead, alongside the Children's Hospital at Westmead, Westmead Hospital and the fantastic Westmead Institute for Medical Research.

Bulk-billing is the beating heart Medicare, and after nine years of cuts and neglect by the former government we know it's never been harder or more expensive to see a GP. Asha has been caring for local residents at Good Street for years and throughout the COVID pandemic. Asha's dedication to her community is not only inspiring but reflective of the thousands of medical practitioners and healthcare workers across Australia who comply with Medicare and health regulations. Australians are rightly proud of Medicare and the committed group of doctors and other health professionals who deliver Medicare services. Australians know that the overwhelming bulk of Australia's doctors and health professionals are honest, hardworking and comply with Medicare rules. But the neglect of compliance measures is a disservice to those healthcare professionals and frontline workers who do their best for Australia every day. I'm proud to see the Albanese government putting an end to that pattern.

More broadly, this is another step in our work to create a better future for Australians, which will yield dividends for those in my electorate of Parramatta. In this year's budget we acted to strengthen Australia's healthcare system. We invested a historic $6.1 billion into Medicare, including $3.5 billion to triple the Medicare bulk-billing incentive, benefiting the 84,537 locals who already bulk-bill across the 64 local GP clinics in Parramatta. We've also halved the cost of medicines for more than six million Australians. In January we delivered cheaper medicines, and Australians can now pay up to 30 per cent less for prescription medicines on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, with the maximum co-payment dropping significantly. Finally, I'm proud to be delivering a bulk-billed Medicare urgent care clinic to Westmead, helping locals access emergency health care quicker and reducing waiting times in existing emergency rooms locally.

The government is making Medicare stronger for all Australians, delivering critical funding and investing in reform for the healthcare system of tomorrow. I commend this bill.

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