Ali France (Dickson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of the Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025. The Albanese Labor government is committed to strengthening Medicare and building a stronger, fairer healthcare system so that all Australians can access the care that they need. Australians rightly expect that Medicare will be there for them when they need it, no matter where they live or how much they earn. Yet an ageing population, rising rates of chronic and complex disease and workforce shortages, particularly in regional and rural and remote areas, are making it harder for people to get the right care at the right time. 50 per cent of Australians have at least one chronic health condition, such as diabetes, cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer's, endometriosis, motor neurone disease, Crohn's disease and dementia, just to name a few. And they're more likely to be women.

For people living with a chronic illness, access to affordable health care is life or death. Managing that illness is never-ending, often exhausting, expensive, frustrating and all-consuming. It often means the loss of work, poverty and a breakdown in relationships. It's a huge struggle. Part of that struggle can be delays in accessing GPS and specialists. Some simply can't afford the appointment, and others are on a waitlist. We know this is a direct result of a decade of underinvestment in Medicare by those two unhappy groups opposite formerly known as the coalition—a decade of turning a blind eye to the rising costs of health care and health inequality.

Since 2022, Labor has been squarely focused on fixing Medicare. In the 2025-26 budget, we made the single biggest investment in Medicare since it was established over 40 years ago: an $8.5 billion investment to expand bulk-billing for more urgent care clinics, to undertake the biggest GP training program ever, for hundreds of nurse scholarships, for cheaper medicines and for our women's health package. This investment is why I got involved in politics. It is why I wanted to represent the people of Dickson. Labor's record investment restores the $8.3 billion that the Australian Medical Association, the AMA, says was cut from Medicare under those opposite in a decade-long effort to dismantle Medicare by the Liberal and National parties of Australia, a calculated and sustained attack on bulk-billing. That decade cost us all, and we are now rebuilding.

This bill is a part of that rebuild. This bill will make life a little bit easier for all Aussies but in particular for those with chronic health conditions. These changes will empower nurses to work to their full scope of practice and improve access to medicines across the country. It enables suitably qualified, endorsed registered nurses to prescribe specified PBS medicines under a carefully designed, nationally consistent framework. Nurses will be able to provide safe, high-quality care, reducing the need for GP appointments for routine repeat scripts or a trip to A&E. We want to remove the barriers to regular and follow-up prescriptions. Registered nurses make up approximately half of the country's health workforce and are the most geographically distributed health profession. This is particularly true in my state of Queensland. More than half of our population lives outside Greater Brisbane. In many communities, the kilometres to the nearest GP and then the nearest chemist are the barrier. In many Queensland communities, nurses are the first point of contact and the most consistent presence in a person's health journey. This is the case across aged-care facilities, community clinics, Indigenous health services and outreach programs. This bill acknowledges that reality and provides a safe pathway for designated registered nurse prescribers to keep people well closer to home.

For a relative in an aged-care home, this might mean a timely dose adjustment can be made and dispensed under the PBS by the authorised nurse practitioner working in partnership with their GP. For a family in Central Queensland, it might mean not having to take a day off work or drive hundreds of kilometres for a simple routine repeat prescription. This is how we make Medicare work for real people—by removing barriers and supporting the teams already caring for people in our communities. Harnessing the strength of our wonderful nurses will improve access to essential medicines, support continuity of care and take pressure off our healthcare system.

These new laws come after extensive research, development and consultation led by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia and the Australian Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer. These changes include safeguards to ensure the best level of care. Only registered nurses who meet the registration standard for designated registered nurse prescribers through specific education, competency and professional requirements will be eligible to apply for PBS approval. This bill outlines a framework that is collaborative, safe and accountable to deliver access without compromising standards.

This bill is part of the Albanese Labor government's commitment to strengthen Medicare. We have delivered more bulk-billing GPS by significantly increasing the bulk-billing incentive, supporting more practices to bulk bill and making it cheaper to see a doctor. We are opening more Medicare urgent care clinics so families can get urgent non-life threatening care without having to go to the emergency department and without a bill. The Murrumba Downs urgent care clinic in my electorate has treated over 27,000 people. The staff is incredible, and the community absolutely loves this service.

We've made PBS medicines cheaper by reducing the maximum cost of PBS medicines from $31.60 to just $25. The last time they were this low was in 2004. We introduced 60-day scripts, halving the number of pharmacy and GP visits needed for repeat scripts. We are modernising digital health, strengthening e-prescribing, enhancing My Health Record and improving secure messaging so the right to information is available to the right clinician at the right time. We are investing in our health workforce. We're hiring more doctors and nurses, expanding training pathways, and, as I mentioned before, we're undertaking the biggest GP training program across the country that has ever been undertaken. We want to grow our next generation of GPS. We want to see more GPS in our communities and particularly in regional, rural and remote communities.

We are investing more than $790 million in women's health—something I'm incredibly passionate about and, as I'm in my menopause era, I'm actually taking advantage of. We're making contraceptives cheaper. We're expanding access to treatments for menopause. We're making access to endometriosis specialists and getting specialist support for complex gynaecological conditions right across the country. This is long overdue, but we're delivering it. We're opening endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics right across the country so that women can get earlier diagnosis and better treatment.

We are delivering more free mental health services, with walk-in Medicare mental health clinics popping up right across the country. We opened one in my electorate, in Strathpine, last year. The feedback from that service has been incredible, particularly from local families, who say that, instead of having to go to the A&E if their relative or loved one is having a mental health crisis, they can now pop down to the Strathpine Medicare mental health centre. No appointment is necessary. It's walk in. We will continue to listen to patients, nurses, doctors, pharmacists and community leaders because good policy is co-designed with the people who use it and deliver it.

Medicare is Labor's heart. It is the very best of this country and it is dearly loved by all Australians. That is why we are working to strengthen and protect it and why this bill matters so much. The Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025 is a practical, safety-first measure to improve access, strengthen teams and modernise care. It recognises the central role nurses play in communities across Australia. I stand here in absolute awe of the nurses that I have been in contact with in my health journey. They are an incredible support to so many people across our community. I have always had the most amazing care from our nurses in Queensland and New South Wales. Together with our wider Medicare reforms, this bill helps deliver a stronger Medicare and a more resilient, equitable health system for every Australian. I commend the bill to the House.

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