Anne Stanley (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to make my contribution to the Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025. Australia arguably has the best health workforce in the world. They are well trained, up to date and regulated to ensure that best practice is followed. On the occasion when things do go wrong, we must admit and then do something about it. Our health system has checks and balances to ensure that the independent investigations are undertaken and appropriate measures are implemented to ensure better outcomes in the future. The demands of our health system are constant. We're all living longer and largely healthier lives, but, with an increasing population, this inevitably places more pressure on our system, particularly at our emergency departments and hospitals.

The Albanese government has implemented many initiatives since being elected to ensure that Australians can see a doctor when they need to and that they have the appropriate care that is required. Just last week, the Medicare urgent care clinic promised by the Albanese government in Werriwa opened for patients. It is opening extended hours, and it means that people seeking medical assistance for things like stitches or illness will not face the long wait in emergency departments. The government has made the biggest investment into the health system in decades, prioritising primary health care with bulk-billing initiatives. There are so many pillars to our health system. I've already mentioned EDs, hospitals and primary care, but there's also the PBS system, Medicare, bulk-billing, urgent care clinics, gold card benefits for veterans and the National Immunisation Program. Underpinning all of this is the world's best-trained health workforce.

The bill before us seeks to support our health workforce by amending the National Health Act 1953. Specifically, the bill supports the Albanese Labor government's election commitment to prioritise implementation of scope-of-practice reforms for nurses and midwives. In practical terms, the bill proposes to amend the National Health Act 1953 to allow a registered nurse endorsed against the registration standard to be an authorised prescriber. This will allow them to prescribe certain medicines that can be supplied under the PBS. Further, the bill will amend the Health Insurance Act 1973 to include registered nurses to enable review of the provision of their prescribing services by the Professional Services Review Scheme.

The government has consulted widely with groups including the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, the AMA, palliative care services, the Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives and the Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association. I am pleased that medical professionals support the designated nurse prescribing based on the requirement that they must practice in partnership with an authorised health practitioner under the active prescribing agreement.

It is anticipated that the first cohort of designated nurse prescribers will complete their education and receive endorsement from July this year. In anticipation of this, all states and territories are currently amending their drug and poison legislation to enable registered nurses to prescribe, to meet that 26 July timeframe.

Australia deserves the world's best health system, and, as part of this, we need to ensure that all Australians, wherever they live, can get affordable medicines when they need them and have them prescribed by someone they trust. This bill will help to deliver on this aim. Under this bill, highly trained designated nurses will be able to extend their scope of practice, primarily in primary care and aged-care services. This is good news for designated registered nurses, good news for patients, particularly in rural and remote areas, and good news for stressed primary and aged-care health settings in the rest of the country. I commend the bill to the House.

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