Zhi Soon (Banks, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is such a pleasure to follow on from the wonderful new member for Gorton. Since the federal election last year, I've had the honour of speaking in support of legislation in this House relating to a number of measures and bills in the health portfolio. Today, I rise to support the Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025 because it is yet another pillar of the health policy that this government promised at the 2020 election—and another one that is being delivered.

The Labor government promised to prioritise reforms to the scope of practice for health professionals that are aimed at delivering real benefits to Australian patients by substantially improving their access to health care. As Australia's population continues to age, there is a greater strain being placed on our health and aged-care systems, alongside a greater prevalence of chronic diseases. The challenge that we face as a government is how to improve timely and affordable access to medications whilst also minimising the pressure we put on the healthcare workforce. The reforms contained in this legislation before the House are part of this Labor government's answer. The bill both allows and creates the regulatory framework for nurse prescribing. As a result of these changes, those hardworking professionals, who make up approximately half of the nation's healthcare workforce, will be able to prescribe a selection of PBS medications. Through nurse prescribing, this Labor government is moving dramatically to enhance access to medications.

Importantly, this is not only a win for urban areas. Not only do registered nurses make up a majority of our healthcare professionals in this country but they are also the most geographically spread. This ensures that the benefits of this legislation will also be felt in regional, rural and remote communities where the nursing profession also enjoys a high level of trust. This includes my mum, who is now a retired registered nurse, as well as the wonderful member for Bullwinkel, who sits in the chamber with me this evening.

While nurse prescribing as a practice in Australia is a novel concept, it is important to remember that these changes have come as a result of extensive research and consultation, led by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia and the Australian chief nursing and midwifery officers, to ensure that appropriate standards are in place and, as a result, that Australian patients continue to enjoy the highest standards of care possible.

In December 2024, health ministers from Commonwealth, state and territory governments came together to approve a new registration standard, under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law Act, which came into effect in September of last year. Under this new standard, registered nurses must meet specified qualifications and requirements to obtain and maintain their endorsement. Importantly, designated registered nurse prescribers must prescribe in partnership with an authorised health practitioner under a prescribing agreement, which would typically be a general practitioner or other doctor.

When it comes to the technical aspects of the bill, it amends the National Health Act to establish a process by which registered nurses who meet the requirements can be approved as authorised nurse prescribers as well as the mechanisms by which the department can suspend or revoke their approvals should the situation arise. The bill also lists authorised nurse prescribers as a category of PBS prescriber and enables the minister to specify the pharmaceutical benefits that they can prescribe to patients. Importantly, the bill will amend the Health Insurance Act to enable the Professional Services Review to examine the PBS prescribing of authorised nurse prescribers to ensure they are subject to the same level of oversight as every other healthcare professional. The reforms before the House are not flashy. You probably won't see them on any of the front pages of the newspapers across the country, but they will have a real and tangible impact for Australian communities.

The Unleashing the potential of our health workforce: scope of practice review, led by Professor Mark Cormack, explored what was enabling or preventing health professionals from exercising their full scope of practice in primary care settings. The final report to the government in 2024 provided recommendations to support greater productivity in our healthcare system while delivering improved, safe and affordable care for all patients. That report called on government to implement reforms just like these. The bill aligns with those recommendations as well as the objectives of the National Medicines Policy, which include promoting equitable access to medicines for all Australians regardless of where they choose to live.

As we make this advancement for Australia's healthcare system, I want to take the opportunity to make mention of our nursing professionals and thank them for their hard work—as well as their representatives in my state, the NSW Nursing and Midwives' Association, who have been advocating for nurses to be allowed to use all of their relevant skills and experience to the benefit of their patients for a very long time. Over two terms of parliament, this government continues to deliver on its promises to the Australian people to look after their health and the healthcare system after a decade of cuts and neglect from those opposite. We continue to expand bulk-billing, continue to make PBS medicines more accessible, continue to open more fully bulk-billed urgent care clinics and continue to make it easier for Australians to get mental health care when they need it.

Enabling registered nurses to prescribe some medications is not the only PBS related reform that this government has completed. It is unacceptable to think that, in a country as fortunate as ours, a situation could persist where medications that people need are out of their reach because of cost. But, when Labor came into government in 2022—

Debate interrupted.

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