Madonna Jarrett (Brisbane, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Continuing, the Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025 provides reforms allowing highly skilled nurses to work to their full scope. This helps reduce pressure on hospitals and general practitioners as well as areas where those providing these services are stretched, especially rural and remote communities. Currently, our registered nurses, who are highly skilled and highly educated, remain underutilised in primary care, and allowing them to prescribe under the PBS system will boost efficiency, strengthen care coordination and allow GPs and nurse practitioners to focus on patients with more complex needs.

The legislation implements recommendations from the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce and the Scope of practice review, and, since 2017, the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia and the Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer conducted extensive research and consultation on the nurse prescribing models and what might work. The NMBA, the board, developed the standards for designated registered nurse prescribers through multiple rounds of consultations. These consultations received strong support.

This was a key election commitment that implements key practice reforms for nurses and midwives. The Albanese government has already been working with state and territory health ministers to register and train the first cohort of registered nurses who, from 1 July this year, are expected to complete their training and start prescribing medicines. This is an important step to ensure that all Australians have better access to affordable medicines that they need when they need them.

This bill is just another way Labor is delivering on our commitment to strengthen Medicare. Medicare and PBS are proud Labor legacies, and they have helped millions of Australians receive the quality health care they need. This bill is another part of that legacy. It expands on our commitment to make health care more affordable and accessible to residents across our communities. This bill is an important complement to our $5 billion investment in new uncapped funding into the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, ensuring faster, more affordable access to innovative medicines. As we've heard, from 1 January this year, our government delivered on our commitment to cap PBS prescriptions at $25. Reducing the cost of prescriptions was just one of the cost-of-living measures Labor took to the last election, measures that had overwhelming support not only in the Brisbane electorate but across Australia. The PBS benefits so many Australians.

As of 2024, 930 different medicines were listed on the PBS across more than 5,000 brands. It's critical that all Australians can afford the medicines and medicine related services that they need. This is particularly important for people with multiple health conditions who may be taking multiple medicines, people on low incomes and individuals or their families experiencing high out-of-pocket care costs. This is a policy that really does make a difference to people's lives.

When I'm out and about in my community, the cost of living and health care are often raised with me. In my early morning commuter stops, I've had countless people come up to me and describe how much the $25 PBS cap and more bulk-billing have benefited them and their daily cost of living. This is especially the case amongst many young people who live in my community in Brisbane, who had put off buying their medicines or put off seeing a doctor. I am so proud to stand here in this House and to be part of the Albanese government that really is delivering changes that are making a difference to people's lives.

The last time PBS medicines cost no more than $25 was in 2004. Shrek 2 was probably the highest-grossing film, and I think I contributed a bit to that with some young children at the time. But PBS medicines being capped at $25 is more than just a 20 per cent cut in the maximum cost of medicines. It will provide immediate cost-of-living relief to Australians doing it tough. This will save Australians over $200 million a year.

This bill will help make it easier for women to access their medicines, and it comes on top of our government's significant investment in women's health. For far too long, women's health had been overlooked, underfunded and frankly misunderstood. The Labor government promised more choice, lower costs and better health care for women and we are delivering. Hundreds of thousands of women are now accessing cheaper medicines and better care thanks to that investment and recognition.

Since launching the package in 2025, more than 365,000 women have accessed over 715,000 subsidised prescriptions for contraception, menopause treatments and endometriosis care. Contraceptives like Yaz, Yasmin, Slinda are now less than half the previous cost around. They were around $30.80 with a concession card; now they're a lot cheaper. Menopause treatments such as Estrogel, oestradiol and Prometrium now cost $25 a script or $7.70 for concession patients, down from up to almost $670 in some cases. Over 20,000 women have had Medicare-covered menopause health assessments. From 1 November just last year, women have had access to affordable IUDs and birth control implants. From 1 July, two new Medicare Benefits Schedule items were introduced for gynaecological consultations of 45 minutes or longer. This is really helping those women facing complex conditions such as endometriosis, pelvic pain, and there'll be more endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics treating more conditions thanks to the Albanese Labor government.

Just last week I had the pleasure to announce the opening of our new Medicare Urgent Care Clinic in Kelvin Grove. Kelvin Grove is in the heart of the Brisbane electorate. Our new Kelvin Grove Medicare Urgent Care Clinic means more affordable, more accessible urgent care for people when they need it most. This was a key election promise I brought to the last election, and I was so proud to stand there and deliver that to the community of Brisbane. No referrals, no bills, nothing to pay. All you need is your Medicare card.

I had the pleasure of walking through the new urgent care clinic with hardworking local state MPs, Grace Grace and Jonty Bush. We chatted with nurse Sammy and Dr John, who are just so passionate about what we and they are delivering for the people of Brisbane. A lot of work and a lot of care has been put into setting up this clinic, which will benefit so many people across the Brisbane electorate. I also dropped into the Kelvin Grove Pharmacy with Assistant Minister Emma McBride, who is a pharmacist herself, where we heard firsthand about the benefits of the $25 scripts and how that is really helping people in the community.

I'm also proud of our government's focus on its commitment to mental health. Last year, I again joined Minister McBride to open the new Medicare health centre in Lutwyche. The Inner North Brisbane Medicare Mental Health Centre in Lutwyche is commissioned by the Brisbane North Primary Health Network and operated by Communify Qld. And I've met so many people, young people in particular, in my community—when I was on the campaign trail and since then—who are really happy that they have access to proper mental health care.

These locals benefit immensely. They can just walk in and see a mental health professional, and they can do that for free and close to home. I've been in that clinic when a young man, a young woman, a family have each walked in looking for care, and that's exactly what they got. Constituents across my electorate have also been telling me how great this easy access is: walk-in, free mental health care close to home.

We can't underestimate what no appointment and no referral means to people. It encourages young people especially to get the help they need when they need it. People continue to walk into that centre—some in distress, some for a chat and others with complex health needs. Regardless, they continue to get incredible care from the practitioners and people with lived experience.

We all know that sometimes people facing mental health distress don't need a doctor. Sometimes they don't need a psychologist. Sometimes they just need somebody to talk to who understands and puts themselves in their shoes. The Lutwyche Medicare mental health centre is truly a professional and responsive wraparound model of care that continues to develop help for many across my electorate, as do other centres that have been set up throughout Australia.

When those opposite were in government, they took any opportunity to undermine our health system. This has had big and long-lasting impacts across our communities. It has meant that people could not access health care when they needed it most. So while those opposite continue to focus on themselves, we're getting on with the job of delivering for all Australians. Labor is the only party that will invest to make health care more affordable whether that's in record investment in Medicare, opening new Medicare urgent care clinics across the country, capping PBS scripts at $25, record investments in women's health or now allowing nurses to prescribe PBS medicines to help ease the pressure on our health system.

I began my working career in the health sector, and I'm really passionate about making sure people in our community and across Australia have access to quality health care. In other countries where I've lived and worked, I've seen what lack of access to affordable health care can do. It destroys lives. It can lead to bankruptcy. It leads to health neglect. We have one of the best healthcare systems in the world, and I am proud to be part of a government that continues to make it even better. And now designated registered nurses prescribing PBS medicines enables safe, timely and effective primary care as well as aged-care services.

I'm proud to be part of the Labor team that delivered real cost-of-living relief, and that continues to make some basic medicines more accessible for constituents in Brisbane and across Australia. And as successive Labor governments have demonstrated, this Labor government continues to deliver the needed reforms to expand and improve world-class health care and a medicines system that we can all be proud of.

This bill delivers on the government's commitment to ensure our health workforce operates at its full scope, enhancing safe and timely access to medicines as well as building a healthcare system that provides accessible and affordable health care for all. This bill is a win for nurses, a win for the people of Brisbane and a win for all Australians. It's a bill with people and care at its heart. It's a bill that delivers on a commitment to provide accessible and affordable health care to Australians no matter where they live.

Sophie Scamps (Mackellar, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025. This bill amends the National Health Act 1953 and the Health Insurance Act 1973 to enable registered nurses, or RNs, who meet specified criteria to prescribe certain medications under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. The bill implements reforms identified by the government's Strengthening Medicare Taskforce and Unleashing the potential of our health workforce: scope of practice review. These explored the system changes and improvements needed to support health professionals and multidisciplinary team members to work at their full scope of practice. The aim is to deliver best practice primary health care.

The Australian Nursing & Midwifery Federation has welcomed this bill that removes barriers and finally allows highly qualified nurse practitioners and endorsed midwives to work autonomously to their full scope, providing people with better access to quality care without the need to visit their GP or a hospital emergency department. The federation has pointed to the success of nurse led clinics in Tasmania and the ACT that have empowered more nurse practitioners and endorsed midwives to work to their full skill set, thereby expanding the provision of health care in those communities. There is a clear need to enable future designated nurse prescribers to prescribe PBS medications within their scope of practice and as part of collaborative prescribing agreements.

However, despite endorsing the intentions of this bill, serious concerns have been raised by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, the RACGP, and the Australian Medical Association, the AMA. Both of these professional medical bodies believe this bill, in its current form, does not provide sufficient protection for patients. Specific concerns include, firstly, that designated nurse prescribers should not be able to prescribe schedule 8 medicines, otherwise known as drugs of addiction, under the PBS; secondly, that there is no requirement for an eligible nurse prescriber to undertake relevant, real-time prescription monitoring or to make contributions to the national medicines record; thirdly, that PBS prescribing reforms should not occur before nurse practitioner accreditation standards scope boundaries and professional safeguards are finalised; and, lastly, that the definition of an authorised practitioner is not limited to a medical practitioner, which poses the risk of unintended consequences, including cross-jurisdictional inconsistency and safety gaps.

Currently in Australia, to be able to prescribe medications, a health practitioner must meet certain criteria, including having completed accredited prescribing education and training that is consistent with their scope of practice, being registered with the national board of their speciality, being approved under the National Health Act 1953 for prescriptions of PBS or Repatriation PBS medicines, and being approved under relevant state and territory legislation and regulation. In September last year, a new registration standard for nurse practitioner prescribing came into effect under AHPRA, the Australian Health Practitioner Registration Agency. This standard, called the 'endorsement for scheduled medicines—designated registered nurse prescriber', sets out how suitably qualified RNs can qualify to prescribe scheduled medicines 2, 3, 4 and 8 in partnership with an authorised health practitioner. The Australian College of Nursing has stated that this standard aligns Australian nursing with international best practice, following successful implementation in countries such as New Zealand, the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands.

The intent of this bill, and the expansion of the integral role that nurse practitioners play in healthcare delivery, has also been welcomed by professional doctors' groups, including the RACGP and the AMA. However, as previously mentioned, these professional medical bodies also have several serious concerns with this bill in its current form.

Neither group supports the prescription of schedule 8 medicines by designated nurse prescribers. Schedule 8 medicines are those that have a high potential for abuse, dependence, addiction and harm, including opioids like morphine, oxycodone and fentanyl. The RACGP and the AMA recommend the bill explicitly prohibit designated nurse prescribers from prescribing schedule 8 medications.

With my 20 years of experience as a GP and emergency doctor, I wholly concur that there is serious risk in significantly expanding the number of prescribers of S8 drugs. There can be enormous pressure for prescribers to provide scripts for these drugs of addiction. Some people will go to extreme lengths to ensure their stories are highly convincing and backed with manufactured evidence. Increasing the number of people who can prescribe these addictive medications, paired with a possible fragmentation of patient care, will mean more opportunities for these medications to be erroneously prescribed.

Another serious risk identified by the RACGP is the absence of a requirement that nurse prescribers undertake real-time prescription monitoring—a national system designed to monitor the prescribing and dispensing of controlled medicines with the aim of reducing their misuse in Australia. This should be absolutely necessary.

The RACGP has also raised the concern that the definition of an 'authorised practitioner' is not limited to medical practitioners. This poses a risk of unintended consequences, including cross-jurisdictional inconsistency and safety gaps. While nurse practitioners would be classified as authorised health practitioners within prescribed agreement frameworks, the RACGP points out that nurses do not undergo the same breadth or depth of training as medical practitioners, including in pharmacology, diagnosis, the interpretation of tests and medication monitoring. As such, the RACGP urge that the medicines prescribed by nurse practitioners need to be carefully selected to ensure patient safety is maintained. Because state and territory legislation defines who can prescribe what, the RACGP and the AMA warn that a vague 'authorised practitioner' label will create cross-jurisdictional inconsistency and safety gaps. They assert that the definition is too broad and ambiguous and that supervising or partner prescribers must have extensive prescribing experience. In practice, these prescribers should be medical practitioners—not a wider group that could include other, non-medical practitioners.

Prescribing agreements for designated RN prescribers must clearly document the roles of the RN and the authorised practitioner. There needs to be clarity that this role is medically led and auditable by the organisations in which designated RN prescribers work and/or by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia. Where RN endorsement involves mentoring, there must be certainty that the mentors are clearly qualified for broad prescribing and are accountable within robust clinical governance.

While the College of GPs support strengthening the Professional Services Review to ensure consistent oversight of designated RN prescribers, they warn that proceeding with PBS prescribing reforms before nurse practitioner accreditation standards, scope boundaries and professional safeguards are finalised would risk undermining patient safety and the integrity of collaborative care models. The college also warns that reforms to nurse practitioner accreditation standards have removed some of the existing safeguards. This includes the abolition of collaborative arrangements which legally required nurse practitioners and midwives to work in structured partnership with medical practitioners. This mandatory requirement was abolished in November 2024.

Admission criteria to nurse practitioner training programs have also been relaxed significantly to reduce the prerequisite total hours of clinical and advanced nursing experience as an RN. Of particular concern is the proposal for nurse practitioners to be subject to only 30 hours of continuing professional development annually. This does not align with the minimum 50 hours of continuing professional development annually that GPs must undertake. The AMA has also consistently advocated that any prescribing of schedule 2, 3 or 4 medications must only occur within medically led, delegated team environments and always under an active prescribing agreement with a medical practitioner.

While the AMA notes that not all their concerns have been addressed, they acknowledge that the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia has incorporated several important safeguards into the national prescribing framework introduced under the new registration standard. These include that designated RN prescribers, firstly, can only prescribe a limited range of medicines only for defined conditions and only within their scope of practice; must have at least 5,000 hours of recent clinical experience; and must complete an Australian Qualifications Framework level 8 qualification and have accredited training aligned with predetermined competencies. They must also have a six-month mentorship and a documented collaboration protocol within the prescribing agreement.

The AMA also joins the RACGP in its concern that the bill does not clearly define the term 'authorised health practitioner'. They are concerned that one of the approval criteria allows prescribing agreements to be established with one or more PBS prescribers. This potentially opens the door for non-medical practitioners, including pharmacists or podiatrists, to act in this supervisory role in the future. The AMA argues strongly that only medical practitioners or nurse practitioners acting within their scope are suitably qualified to supervise prescribing. The AMA warns that permitting agreements with other professions risks undermining the collaborative model. They stress that doctors and nurses need to work together within defined protocols and safeguards. When care moves away from collaboration towards independent prescribing, risks multiply due to the fragmentation of care, gaps in clinical oversight and reduced continuity of care for patients.

What is clear from the evidence presented by both the RACGP and the AMA is that prescribing is not an administrative function; it is a clinical responsibility grounded in deep training, broad diagnostic expertise and ongoing professional oversight. Australians rightly expect that the medicines they are prescribed, particularly higher-risk medications, are supported by robust safeguards and delivered within a model of care that protects continuity, safety and accountability.

I agree wholeheartedly with the intent of this bill to expand access and support a more flexible and responsive primary healthcare workforce. But intent alone is not enough. It is one thing to extend access to medical care, but we must absolutely be resolute in ensuring that this greater access does not undermine patient safety and outcomes. For these reforms to succeed, the safety concerns of professional medical bodies with deep experience in the field of prescribing and patient care must be heeded, and the safeguards they urge must be implemented.

Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We made a promise that we would expand the scope of practice for health professionals so we could deliver real benefits to Australians. We all know it's tough to get to a GP exactly when you need to, and this is one of many tools we're using to try and address issues that have been building up for a long time in our health system, particularly at that first interaction in primary health care.

This bill, the Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025, is an important step to ensure that Australians have better access to the health care they need and specifically to the medicines they need—now more affordable medicines, thanks to our capping of medicines under the PBS at $25 a script and the ability to get 60-day scripts. This is all part of a much bigger picture and shouldn't be seen in isolation.

The sense of this bill is that it will allow designated registered nurses to prescribe safe, timely and effective medication. It's extending what we call their scope of practice, the stuff they're allowed to do, particularly in primary care and aged care. I know for my community it's worth noting that we've got more than 1,300 registered nurses in Macquarie, and that's on top of about 1,700 midwives and nursing professionals. So there's a really large cohort of people who are highly qualified, very experienced and may well choose to take the next steps involved so that they can expand the things that they're allowed to do.

It may not sound like a big change. The legislation allows registered nurses who are endorsed against the registration standard to be an authorised prescriber to enable them to prescribe certain medicines that can be supplied under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and attract Commonwealth subsidy. It changes the Health Insurance Act 1973 to include registered nurses with certain provisions. But it's been described by nurses and people working in the sector as a huge change to the health system. When you think about the implications of it, who you can go to in order to get a script and have a healthcare professional talk to you, we've already made it possible for more things to be done at pharmacies because we want pharmacists working at the top of their scope, but this is now expanding it even beyond that realm. We're talking about tens of thousands of nurses around the country who are now eligible to take that pathway towards prescribing medicines to patients.

It's worth remembering what the situation we're changing is. Until now, the only health practitioners allowed to prescribe were medical doctors, dentists, optometrists, some pharmacists and, with some restrictions, nurse practitioners and endorsed midwives, all of whom have done the appropriate training to be able to make these really critical decisions for patients when they see them. For nurse practitioners and endorsed midwives, they have additional postgraduate training that expands their scope of practice. Registered nurses may only have a bachelor's degree as well as registration with a regulatory agency, and that has not allowed them to be prescribers.

So how is it going to work? Health ministers got together, and that is one of the strengths of our government. We have the capacity to work with the states and health ministers around the country, because you do need things to be worked out, usually, at the Commonwealth and state level. And health ministers last year approved the plan to expand the role of registered nurses. I want to be really clear. This is a lot about ensuring the time of GPs is freed up, but it is not necessarily about nurses working in isolation. The idea is that they work as part of a multidisciplinary team so that we have each member of that team being as effective and efficient for patients as they can be.

An example of what might fall under this came from Frances Rice, who's the chief nursing officer at the Australian College of Nursing. She said that a good example would be a person who is stable on medication that they've been for some period of time and may need a repeat script. Depending on the medication, the registered nurse could be the one to do the prescribing, instead of needing to make an appointment to see the GP. So there is one example of where this might work.

There are extra requirements that registered nurses will need to do. It's a major expansion of their scope of practice, and they have to meet stringent requirements to apply for an endorsement to prescribe. They have to do postgraduate qualifications. They have to be able to demonstrate adequate clinical experience, and then they need to participate in a six-month clinical mentorship with an authorised health practitioner. They then need to establish a formal partnership with an authorised health practitioner, like a GP, and that will involve a prescribing agreement detailing the circumstances in which the nurse can prescribe drugs.

It's a huge change. It has a lot of safeguards around it. It is probably worth noting that the last time new prescribers were endorsed in a similar way was when midwives and nurse practitioners were endorsed, and that was about 20 years ago. These things are done with a lot of care, a lot of planning and a lot of safeguards around them. The registration standard for endorsement has been published by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia. It paves the way for prescribing of schedule 2, 3, 4 and 8 medicines—each of those is a different type of medication—but only in partnership with an authorised health practitioner who's an independent prescriber, such as a nurse practitioner or a doctor.

The way this changes things is one part of many things that we're doing. I should point out that this legislation that we are discussing today will result in the first cohort of designated registered nurse prescribers likely to complete their education, receive endorsement and begin prescribing medicines from sometime around the middle of the year. So this is something that will take a little bit of time, but we're going to see it in 2026. We are really committed to supporting our health workforce, our valuable, highly skilled and hardworking health workforce, to deliver quality care to Australians. We've done it in a number of ways.

We've been talking a lot today about bulk-billing practices. In Macquarie, to make it easier to access your GP, we've ensured that we already have 18 fully bulk-billing practices, and they are practices not just in one area. Remember that my electorate is 4,000 square kilometres. So they are not just in one part but from the top of the Blue Mountains all the way down to the plains where the Nepean River defines it and then up north, across through the Hawkesbury. These practices are fully bulk-billing practices. For every patient, every time, bulk-billing is available. There are 18 of them to date.

I'm also very proud that our Hawkesbury Medicare urgent care clinic opened this week. It's fantastic! I got a sneak peek through it last week, and I look forward to the official opening, but it is up and operating from eight in the morning until 10 at night. Again, you just need your Medicare card, and it's at 2 Kable Street in Windsor, co-located with the Cable Street GP Myhealth practice. I'm very grateful to the doctors, nurses and staff at that facility, who have stepped up in quite a short space of time to create a place where I know on Monday morning at eight o'clock there was a queue because it's a much-needed service and will take a lot of pressure off our Hawkesbury hospital emergency department.

The practice will work closely with other GPS and feed back the circumstances in which they've seen patients. There's still more to come. We still need to see radiology on site. We will continue to work on all the things as we get feedback from people as they use it. That's another example of the Albanese government doing something really practical to make access to health care not just affordable but free when and where you need it. I'm told by my local sporting groups that they don't want to have to send any of their players there, but when the season starts, they have every expectation that there will be a steady trail of limbs being examined from basketball, soccer, football—you name it.

I've mentioned that this piece of legislation also plays in to our cheaper medicines. It is hard for people to remember back to the early 2000s. It is hard for any of us to remember, and there are a whole lot of people who weren't even born then who will have no idea why we hark back to it. But the last time that medicines were $25 when you went to get a script was in the early 2000s. It's really significant to see the price reduction. Not many things go down in price in this world, and it's great that we have been able to use that lever to help ease cost-of-living pressures for people.

We've also made a really big effort to ensure that these new nurses who are coming on and are able to prescribe things have even more things that they may be equipped to provide. The one that we announced just this weekend was the medication for Australians with an aggressive form of prostate cancer. They now have access to a really key medicine that had not previously been available on the PBS and cost about $930 a script, and, now, it's $25 a script and even less for people with a concession card. It's just $7.70 with a concession card—a price that will remain for the next few years, because we've frozen that concession card price. The medication has a really long name and goes by the brand name Andriga-10, and those who are relying on it will absolutely appreciate the benefit that it has. It's for the treatment of castration-resistant metastatic carcinoma of the prostate—not something that's good to have—but this can absolutely slow the disease, ease the symptoms and help patients feel better for longer.

These are just some of the ways in which the Albanese Labor government is looking at availability and affordability of health care. We don't pretend that it's done and dusted. There is always more to do, and I have many parts of my electorate where I want to see more fully bulk-billing GPs and where I want to see greater access to support. I think the thing I'm probably most proud of and have fought hard for for well on 15 years is the access to free and available mental health support. Not only do we now have our online service that began on 1 January, but locally we have headspace for our young people at the top of the mountains in the Hawkesbury and in Penrith. We also have Medicare mental health centres where you can just walk in and say, 'Things are not great,' and you can talk to somebody and find a pathway—all of these things. It's about your Medicare card, not your credit card. That is life changing for mums, for elderly people—all of us have competing pressures, and it's really hard to tackle all the other challenges of life if your health is letting you down. What we're focused on is making sure that health is the thing that you can get on top of.

I really encourage people to support this legislation so that we can have more of our amazing Macquarie registered nurses ready, able and legally allowed to prescribe medications to help take pressure off our GPs and to help support a community that most of them not only work in but live in. I commend this bill to the House.

Kara Cook (Bonner, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak in support of the Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025, a reform that goes to the heart of access, efficiency and fairness in our healthcare system. Nurses and midwives play a vital role in Australia's healthcare system. Across the country, there are more than 54,000 enrolled nurses, 345,000 registered nurses and more than 2½ thousand nurse practitioners employed. There are also more than 300,000 midwives providing vital care for more than 300,000 women each and every year. Nurses alleviate suffering and support recovery. They foster life from the start and uphold dignity at the end of life. They are highly skilled and educated. However, they are currently underutilised in primary care. This bill changes that.

It delivers upon Labor's commitment to support more Australians and their health by enabling designated registered nurses to prescribe. I know many in my electorate of Bonner will benefit from this change with better access for affordable medicines when they need it most. GPs are managing rising demand, as we know, and emergency departments are overcrowded. We know that too many Australians are waiting longer than they should for the care and medicines that they need. In many cases, those delays are not caused by any lack of clinical skill but by outdated restrictions on who can be authorised to prescribe.

This bill amends the National Health Act 1953 to allow a registered nurse endorsed against the registration standard to be an authorised prescriber and to enable them to prescribe certain medications that can be supplied under the PBS and attract the Commonwealth subsidy. The bill also amends 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. Amendments to the National Health Act 1953 will enable prescriptions written by designated registered nurse prescribers to be subsidised under the PBS. Prescribing registered nurses will be subject to the Professional Services Review Scheme, a peer review mechanism that safeguards the PBS and other programs.

The change will reduce the need for GP visits or long waits at hospital emergency departments, due to nurses being empowered to provide safe, high-quality care directly to Australians. This builds upon national progress as well. In December 2024, Australia's health ministers approved the new registration standard that allows suitably qualified registered nurses to become designated nurse prescribers. The legislation will enable nurse prescribers to prescribe PBS subsidised medication in primary, aged, disability and mental healthcare settings, including the acute hospital setting to support the discharge process and outpatient management.

The Albanese Labor government has listened to the experts and is acting on their advice. The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia and chief nursing and midwifery officers conducted extensive research and consultation on nurse prescribing models. Through many rounds of consultation, the board developed the standards for designated registered nurse prescribers. Subsequently, all health ministers endorsed the scheduled medicine standards in 2024. This bill reflects expert advice. It reflects workplace planning and it reflects a modern health system adapting to modern needs.

Nurses are essential across all health settings, from hospitals and aged care to primary care and remote areas. They are the largest clinical workforce in the country. They are crucial to ensuring every Australian can get the health care they need when they need it. That is why Labor is building the health workforce. This includes delivering $10.5 million for 400 scholarships for nurses and midwives to extend their skills. The scholarships will increase the number of qualified nurse practitioners to support nurse led clinics and increase the number of endorsed midwives. Labor is also fast-tracking registration for record numbers of nurses from comparable countries to join Australia's workforce.

To back the health workforce, we need to recognise the expertise of our nurses. That is why the Albanese Labor government delivered a $2.6 billion pay rise for nurses in aged care. Registered and enrolled nurses have seen their award wage increase by an average of around 12 per cent. These increases have been provided across three instalments, with the final instalment coming into play this year in August.

Under a decade of neglect from those opposite, aged-care workers were underpaid and undervalued. I'm proud to be part of a government that is righting that wrong. Registered nurses working in aged care on an award wage are around $430 a week better off, and enrolled nurses are $370 a week better off, under the Albanese Labor government. This will also boost recruitment and retention of nurses, easing the pressure on the existing nurse workforce.

The Albanese Labor government has made health a priority. These reforms are alongside policies to make health care more accessible and affordable for a growing population. We all know that the costs of seeing a doctor or filling a script are placing many families under financial pressure. Bonner families shouldn't have to make a choice between their health, groceries or paying a bill. That is why Labor has made medicines cheaper. From 1 January this year, we have seen the cost of PBS medications drop to just $25 per script. In Bonner alone, families have saved more than $14.2 million across more than two million scripts.

Since coming into government, the Albanese Labor government has also added over 300 new and amended listings to the PBS scheme. For example, 300,000 women will save up $400 a year in Medicare rebates for IUDs, and 365,000 women have already accessed 715,000 cheaper scripts for contraceptives and menopausal hormone therapies through changes to the PBS. Now, authorised nurses can prescribe medications. New PBS listings are saving families potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars in treatment costs for rare and complex diseases as well as other very rare and complex health conditions. Australian families are relying on medications being listed on the PBS so they can make ends meet. That is exactly what we are doing.

We know that seeing a doctor has become a challenge when it shouldn't be. That is why the Albanese Labor government has tripled the bulk-billing incentive. This is the single biggest in Medicare's history. It means more Australians are seeing the doctor for free and fewer families are putting off the care that they need. Over the next four years, 4,800 clinics across the nation are expected to convert to fully bulk-billed practices, and it's already started in Bonner. In our electorate, we now have around a third of our practices bulk-billing, including: Doctors on Manly Road; Yulu-Burri-Ba in Wynnum; Archer Medical Centre in upper Mount Gravatt; Garden City Family Doctors; Good Health Medical Centres in Garden City, Mount Gravatt and Carindale; Mansfield Family Practice; Mount Gravatt Family Practice; Realcare Medical Centre in upper Mount Gravatt; and Tingalpa Family Health Care Centre, and there will be more on the way. These clinics help more families see the doctor, and it won't cost them a cent. All they need is their Medicare card, not their credit card.

Nurses are also playing a crucial role in our urgent care clinics. Our community called for an urgent care clinic, and I'm thrilled that in the last couple of months we've opened not one but two urgent care clinics. Carina-Carindale and the Capalaba urgent care clinics are now open. They are providing urgent care for many in Bonner with no out-of-pocket costs every day of the year. Already 1,121 locals have been treated at the Carina-Carindale clinic. The Capalaba clinic alone has reported an average of 40 people walking in each and every day. Over 2.1 million patients have walked through the door of a Medicare urgent care clinic in Australia, and that includes 360,000 Queenslanders who have received free, urgent, non-life-threatening care through these clinics, seven days a week, close to home.

With cheaper medicines, bulk-billed GP clinics and urgent care clinics, families in my community of Bonner can get the health care they need when they need it. Now, nurses will play a greater role in supporting families accessing the treatment they need. In Bonner, I know many people are in the healthcare and aged-care sector as well. In Bonner, 8.7 per cent of the working population are in the healthcare and social assistance sector. There are 3½ thousand people in Bonner completing a health related VET course, and there is a nurse led clinic in Mount Gravatt within my electorate. I know these reforms will support more opportunities for our nurses. Importantly, it will enable my community to seek treatment they need faster.

Allowing nurses to prescribe under the PBS will ensure the health system is responsive and better coordinated and ensure GPs and nurse practitioners can focus on patients with more complex needs. The bill is about making better use of the skills we already have in our health workforce. It is about improving access to medicines and ensuring that Australians can receive the care they need when they need it without any unnecessary delay. The Albanese Labor government is committed to supporting our nurses and values the work that they do. I commend the bill to the House.

Jodie Belyea (Dunkley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Across the 47th parliament and, now, the 48th parliament, this government has been bringing back to life our health system after a decade of neglect, investing in Medicare urgent care clinics, like the one in Dunkley, and in bulk-billing, capping the costs of PBS medicines and a range of other initiatives like prac placement support for midwives and nurses. Today, I support another initiative—the Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025. It's another additional step to ensuring we improve and provide holistic and efficient access to health care in this country. This bill is a practical, sensible and forward-looking reform, one that puts patients first, strengthens Medicare and recognises the vital role nurses play in delivering high-quality care across the country. At its heart, the legislation is about access—access to care, access to medicines and access to a health system that works for people when and where they need it.

This bill amends two key pieces of Commonwealth legislation—the National Health Act of 1953 and the Health Insurance Act of 1973—to allow suitably qualified and endorsed registered nurses to become authorised prescribers under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and to ensure their prescribing services are appropriately overseen under the Professional Services Review Scheme. These are measured and necessary changes, and they are long overdue. Australians know that our healthcare system is under pressure. Demand is increasing, the population is ageing and too many people, particularly in primary care, aged care and fast-growing outer metropolitan and regional communities like Dunkley, are struggling to access timely treatment and affordable medicines.

The Albanese Labor government was re-elected with a clear mandate to act, and at the 2025 election we committed to prioritising scope-of-practice reforms for nurses and midwives so health professionals can work to their full potential and patients can get the care they need without unnecessary delay. This bill is a direct delivery on that commitment. It recognises what nurses have long demonstrated in practice—that with the right education, endorsement and safeguards registered nurses can safely, effectively and appropriately prescribe certain medicines as part of a collaborative healthcare team.

Importantly, this legislation does not lower standards. It does not cut corners, and it does not compromise patient safety and care. Instead, it builds on rigorous national regulation and professional oversight. In December 2024, Commonwealth, state and territory health ministers approved a new registration standard under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law Act 2009: the Endorsement for scheduled medicines—designated registered nurse prescriber. This nationally consistent standard ensures that only suitably qualified registered nurses who have completed approved education and met strict professional requirements can become designated registered nurse prescribers. The first cohort of these nurses is expected to complete their education, receive endorsement and begin prescribing medicines from July this year.

This bill ensures that the Commonwealth legislative framework is ready to support that transition. Without these amendments, prescriptions written by designated registered nurse prescribers could not be subsidised under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. That would create unnecessary barriers for patients and undermine the very purpose of the reform. By amending the National Health Act 1953, this bill allows registered nurses who are endorsed against the new registration standard to be recognised as authorised prescribers for certain PBS medicines, ensuring patients can access affordable, subsidised treatments in a timely manner. And, by amending the Health Insurance Act 1973, this bill appropriately includes registered nurses within the Professional Services Review Scheme, providing the same accountability and oversight that already applies to other healthcare professionals who prescribe under Medicare. This is good governance, it is responsible reform and it ensures public confidence in the system.

Designated registered nurse prescribers align squarely with the intent of Unleashing the Potential of our Health Workforce Review. That landmark review made it clear that Australia must better utilise the skills and expertise of its health workforce if we are to meet current and future demand. It called for reforms that enable health professionals to work to their full scope of practice, reduce duplication and improve access for patients. This bill does exactly that. It enables safe, timely and effective prescribing by registered nurses, particularly in settings where access to medical practitioners can be limited, such as regional settings, primary care clinics, aged-care services and community health settings. For patients, this can mean fewer delays, fewer appointments and more streamlined care. It can mean getting a prescription at the point of care rather than waiting days or weeks for another consultation—helping people to get better sooner. It can mean better continuity of care, especially for people with chronic conditions who are already receiving ongoing support from nursing professionals they know and trust.

This reform is not about replacing doctors. It's about complementing and strengthening a multidisciplinary approach to care at a time when there are workforce shortages. It's about making the best use of all health professionals—working together, each within their competence and scope—to deliver better outcomes for patients.

It is also important to note that this reform is being progressed in partnership with states and territories. Health ministers across jurisdictions have already approved the national registration standard, and states and territories are now amending their own legislation to enable designated registered nurse prescribing within their health systems. This cooperative approach reflects the seriousness of the reform and the shared commitment across governments to modernise our health workforce.

The Albanese Labor government understands that a strong Medicare system depends on a strong workforce. That is why we are backing nurses not just with words but with real reforms that recognise their skills, expand their opportunities and support them to deliver quality care. This bill is another way we are delivering on our commitment to strengthen Medicare and improve access to affordable health care for all Australians.

For the community of Dunkley, the benefits of this reform are very real and very local. Dunkley is a growing and diverse community with increasing demand for health services across primary care, aged care and community health. Too many people in the community know what it's like to wait for too long for an appointment, travel further than they should or delay treatment because local services are stretched. By enabling designated nurse practitioner prescribers to work to their full scope of practice, this bill will help ease pressure on local health services and doctors and improve access to timely care right here in Dunkley. It means nurses already providing care in general practice, community clinics and aged-care facilities can help patients access the medicines they need more quickly and more efficiently.

This reform builds on the Albanese Labor government's broader health package—our comprehensive plan to strengthen Medicare, invest in our health workforce and deliver better access to care for communities like mine. It sits alongside our record investments in Medicare, primary care and hospitals, and alongside our commitment to modernise the way health care is delivered to meet the growing needs of the population.

The broader healthcare package includes the opening of the new Peninsula University Hospital, a transformational investment in health care for the Dunkley community and the broader Melbourne south-east. This world-class facility will expand capacity, improve emergency and specialist care, and support a growing workforce of skilled healthcare professionals. Ensuring nurses at Peninsula University Hospital and across the Dunkley community are supported by contemporary scope-of-practice reforms is essential to making the investment deliver to its full potential. Modern infrastructure must be matched with modern workforce settings.

This bill helps ensure our local health infrastructure, workforce and policy settings work together so the people of Dunkley get the accessible, high-quality health care they deserve. More broadly, this legislation ensures that, when designated nurse prescribers begin practising from July 2026, the Commonwealth framework will be ready to support them and, more importantly, to support their patients. Australians should be able to get the medicines they need when they need them without unnecessary hurdles or extra costs. They should be able to rely on a health system that is modern, flexible and responsive to their needs, and they should know that their government is willing to reform outdated systems to deliver better outcomes for the population. This bill does exactly that. It is sensible, it is evidence based and it is focused squarely on patients. I commend the Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025 to the House and urge all members to support this important step in strengthening our health system for all Australians.

Dan Repacholi (Hunter, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak in support of the Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025. I do so as the member for Hunter but also in my role as the Special Envoy for Men's Health. And I want to be very clear from the outset: this bill is not just about workforce reform, it's not just about scope of practice and it's not just about legislation. This bill is about access, it's about prevention and it's about saving lives—particularly the lives of men who too often fall through the cracks of our health system.

When we talk about men's health in this place, we have to start with the uncomfortable truth: men are less likely to seek help. Men are more likely to delay care. Men are more likely to put things off until something becomes serious or, sometimes, until it's, unfortunately, too late. We see it in all the statistics. Men die younger than women. Men have higher rates of suicide. Men are more likely to present late with chronic diseases. And men in regional and outer metropolitan areas like the Hunter face even greater barriers to timely care.

That is the context in which this bill matters. The legislation enables appropriately trained and endorsed registered nurses to prescribe certain medications under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, or the PBS. It allows those prescriptions to attract a Commonwealth subsidy and it ensures appropriate oversight through the Professional Services Review scheme. That might sound technical, but, in the real world, the impacts are very simple. It means people can get the medicines they need when they need them and without unnecessary delays. From a men's health perspective, this is critical. I cannot tell you how many blokes I've spoken to that say the same thing to me. They know something is wrong, they know they need help but they can't get in to see a GP for a couple of weeks. Or they live in a town where there is no access to a GP and they're not taking new patients. Or they're juggling shift work, caring responsibilities and cost pressures, and they, unfortunately, are putting themselves last. So they wait and they wait, and their condition gets worse.

This bill helps break that cycle. By allowing designated registered nurse prescribers to work their full scope of practice, we expand the front door to the health system. We reduce the bottlenecks. We get people treated earlier and we keep them out of hospital. This is good health policy and it's good for men's health policy as well. Men are more likely to present to a health service in crisis rather than earlier. That is true for mental health, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and many other conditions. Early access to treatment and medication can be the difference between management and emergency. In communities like mine, nurses are often the first point of contact in primary care clinics, in aged care, in mental health settings, in Aboriginal community controlled health services and in hospitals supporting discharge and following up with care. Giving those nurses the ability to prescribe within a structured, regulated and collaborative framework means patients are not left waiting. It means continual care of these patients and it means better outcomes.

This bill gives and delivers on an election commitment by the Albanese Labor government to implement scope-of-practice reforms for nurses and midwives. It aligns with unleashing the potential of our health workforce review, and it reflects years of consultation and careful planning. This certainly is not rushed reform; this is considered reform. Health ministers approved a new national registration standard in December 2024. The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia has set clear education and endorsement requirements. The first cohort of designated registered nurse prescribers is expected to begin prescribing from July 2026—only a few months away.

This is a staged, safe and sensible approach, and I want to be very clear about something else: this reform does not replace doctors, it does not undermine GPs and it does not compromise anybody's safety. Designated registered nurse prescribers will practice in partnership with authorised health practitioners under active prescribing arrangements. There is oversight, there is accountability and there are clear boundaries around what medicines can be prescribed. This is about team based care, and it's exactly where modern health systems need to go.

From a men's health perspective, multidisciplinary care is essential. Men often present with complex needs; physical health, mental health, work related injuries, substance use and chronic disease all intersect. Having nurses able to prescribe within their scope means fewer handovers, fewer appointments and fewer opportunities for men to disengage from care altogether. That matters because every extra barrier is a chance for someone to walk away.

I want to speak specifically about regional and outer metropolitan Australia. In the Hunter, access to care can vary dramatically depending on where you live. Some towns have very good coverage, and others struggle. GP shortages are real, wait times are real and pressures on emergency departments are constant. This bill helps relieve that pressure. By enabling nurses to prescribe PBS subsidised medicines in primary care, aged care, disability services, mental health settings and hospitals, we make better use of the workforce we already have. This is just common sense.

This bill also supports continual care for men leaving hospital. Too often, men are discharged with instructions to see their GP and follow up with prescriptions and follow-up care. Unfortunately, that follow-up care doesn't always happen—or it happens too late. Allowing nurse prescribers to support discharge planning and outpatient management reduces readmissions and improves adherence to treatment. From a men's health perspective, this is crucial and definitely needed. Men are less likely to follow up, less likely to attend multiple appointments and, unfortunately, more likely to fall out of the system. This bill helps close that gap.

I also want to speak about prevention. Prevention sits at the very heart of men's health. Too often, our health system is built to respond when something has already gone wrong—when a bloke turns up in the emergency department with chest pain, when diabetes has progressed too far or when mental health distress has reached its crisis point. That is not a failure of individuals; it's a failure of access. If we want to improve men's health outcomes, we have to intervene earlier. We have to make it easier to have that first conversation, easier to get that first prescription and easier to start treatment before the problem becomes an absolute catastrophe.

This bill is going to do exactly that. This bill helps that the whole way along. When a man walks into a clinic, an aged-care service, a mental health service or a community health setting and speaks to a nurse, that interaction should not end with them needing to come back later, needing to book somewhere else or needing to have a conversation with three or four other people. Every extra step increases the risk that nothing is going to happen at all.

Designated registered nurse prescribers mean that, when a man finally reaches out, the system can respond in real time. That matters more often than we would like to admit. In men's health, timing is absolutely everything. We know men are more likely to delay care. We know men are more likely to minimise their symptoms and not actually tell the GP or the nurse practitioner exactly what's wrong with them. We know that men are more likely to disengage if the system feels too complicated or too slow. This bill reduces friction in the system.

It also supports better management of chronic disease, which disproportionately affects men. Conditions like heart disease, diabetes, respiratory illness and musculoskeletal injuries—it's a tough word to say, that one—are more common in men, particularly in men who have worked in physically demanding industries. These are often not one-off issues. They require ongoing care, medication management and regular follow-ups. Nurses already play a crucial role in that care. Allowing them to prescribe within their scope strengthens community and also strengthens the consistency of males seeing and reaching out for this help. From a men's health perspective, having continual care matters because men are less likely to attend multiple providers. They want clear advice, clear plans and clear next steps. This reform supports that.

I also want to speak directly about men working shift work and non-standard hours. In industries like mining, manufacturing, transport and construction, shift work is the norm. Accessing a GP during business hours is quite often difficult, and men are left choosing between their health and their pay. Nurses are often available outside traditional GP hours, particularly in community clinics, hospitals and residential care settings. Giving them prescribing authority ensures that working men are not disadvantaged by the hours they keep. This is an equity issue.

This bill also supports older men, particularly those transitioning into aged care or receiving community based support. Older men often have complex medical needs. They may struggle with mobility or transport or have cognitive decline. Delays in prescribing or renewing medications can have serious consequences to all of these people. Designated registered nurse prescribers working in aged care and community settings will help ensure continuity, reduce medication errors and improve quality of life. From a men's health lens, dignity in ageing matters. Access to timely care matters. This reform supports both.

I also want to acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men, who experience significantly poorer health outcomes and lower life expectancies. Nurses play a crucial role in Aboriginal community controlled health services. Enabling nurse prescribing within culturally safe, community led models of care supports better access and much better trust. Men are more likely to engage in health services they trust. This reform strengthens those services.

Mental health must also remain front of mind. As the Special Envoy for Men's Health, I cannot speak about access or care without speaking about suicide prevention. Men make up the overwhelming majority of suicide deaths in this country. We know that many of those men had contact with the health system in the months before they died. The problem was not that they did not seek help. The problem was that the help did not always move quickly enough for them. Designated registered nurse prescribers in mental health settings can support timely intervention, medication continuity and follow-up. They can help keep men engaged during critical periods of their lives. This saves lives.

I want to be very clear. This reform is not about lowering standards. It is about modernising them. The nurses who prescribe under this framework will be highly trained, endorsed against national standards and subject to oversight and review. This is safe, evidence based reform that aligns with international best practice. Other health systems have successfully implemented similar models. The evidence shows improved access, high patient satisfaction and no compromise to safety. Australia should not lag behind.

This bill is also about valuing our healthcare workforce. Nurses are highly skilled professionals. Allowing them to work their full scope is not only efficient but also respectful. From a men's health perspective, a confident, empowered workforce means better care. It means clinicians who can act decisively when a man finally asks for help. I often say that we cannot fix men's health outcomes by telling men to do better alone. We must fix the system. This bill is system reform. It recognises how men actually use health services and reduces barriers. It improves access, and it supports early intervention. It strengthens Medicare, it strengthens primary care and it strengthens outcomes for men all across this country, especially in regional and outer metropolitan communities like the Hunter. This is why reform matters, and that's why I'm proud to support this bill. I commend this bill to the House.

Jo Briskey (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

At the last election, we made a clear commitment to the Australian people not only to strengthen Medicare but to ensure that, after almost a decade of cuts and chaos from those opposite, Australia would have a healthcare system that's accessible and responsive and truly works for the people who rely on it. At the heart of that system is our health workforce, the frontline workers who dedicate their lives to caring for us, our families and our communities when people need them the most. They are the backbone of our healthcare system, and the strength of Medicare depends on our ability to support and enable them to deliver the best possible care.

Whilst the Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025 directly affects the work of registered nurses, it is fundamentally about everyday Australians—people who find themselves unwell, caring for a loved one or trying to navigate a system that often feels complex, slow and difficult precisely at the moment when they need support the most. This legislation is about making our health system work fairer and better where we need it to work. It is about ensuring people can access safe, affordable medicines without unnecessary delay, and it is about empowering our health workforce to work to its full potential so patients receive timely, high-quality care.

The Albanese Labor government also made a clear commitment to prioritise scope-of-practice reforms for health professionals. We did so because we know our health system is under pressure, with growing demand, workforce shortages and communities rightly calling for care to be more flexible, more efficient and more centred on their needs. This bill delivers on that commitment. It is practical, sensible reform that strengthens Medicare by modernising how care is delivered and ensuring highly trained health professionals are able to contribute fully within their scope of practice. It recognises that the challenges facing our health system cannot be solved by standing still. They require thoughtful, evidence based reform focused on people, not process, and that is why this reform is so important.

This bill enables designated registered nurse prescribers to prescribe certain medicines under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme once they are appropriately trained and endorsed. It does this in two ways. First, it amends the National Health Act 1953 to recognise registered nurses who are endorsed under the National Registration Standard as authorised prescribers, allowing their prescriptions to attract Commonwealth subsidy through the PBS. Second, it amends the Health Insurance Act 1973 to include registered nurses within the Professional Services Review scheme, ensuring appropriate oversight, accountability and patient safety. These are careful and considered changes. They ensure that, as nurses' roles evolve, the legislative framework evolves with them, supporting quality care while maintaining the integrity of our health system.

Taken together, these amendments ensure that our laws keep pace with modern clinical practice and the realities of how care is delivered on the ground. They make it clear that, when a registered nurse is appropriately trained, endorsed and practising within a collaborative framework, we recognise their clinical judgement and support these incredible healthcare professionals in our national health system. By enabling access to PBS subsidies while maintaining strong safeguards and oversight, this bill strikes the right balance between expanding access to care and upholding the high standards Australians rightly expect from their Medicare.

Those of us on this side of the chamber have always recognised the incredible role nurses play in keeping our country healthy.

Trish Cook (Bullwinkel, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Hear, hear!

Jo Briskey (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Indeed—and our member for Bullwinkel! Nurses are often the first clinicians people see and the ones who stay with patients throughout their care. They work in our GP clinics, hospitals, aged-care homes, community health services and mental health settings, building relationships, providing continuity and delivering care with skill and compassion. I'd like to take this opportunity to recognise some amazing nurses who looked after my daughter Gwenevieve when, in the final week of school holidays just a couple of weeks ago, she had to have her appendix taken out. The nurses at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne were incredible, keeping Gweny calm and in good spirits whilst recognising how scary this procedure was for her and helping her to take the medicine that she needed, sometimes with much protest. My heartfelt thanks to every single nurse, doctor and healthcare professional who helped to support Gwenevieve and who looked after us and our entire family when we were there a couple of weeks ago.

This bill recognises that many registered nurses already have advanced training and expertise and, with the right education and safeguards, can effectively and safely take on an expanded prescribing role. The national registration standard—endorsement for scheduled medicines, designated registered nurse prescriber—was approved by the health ministers in December 2024 and came into effect in September 2025. It sets out clear, rigorous requirements that registered nurses must meet and attain to maintain endorsement. The first cohort of designated registered nurse prescribers is expected to complete their education, receive endorsement and begin prescribing by 26 July. This is reform done properly, grounded in evidence, education and professional standards.

Designated registered nurse prescribing is based on partnership, with nurse prescribers practising in collaboration with authorised health practitioners under active prescribing agreements. That collaborative approach has been central to the design of this reform, and it is why it has received support from across the health sector, including through extensive consultation with organisations such as the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and the Australian Medical Association. This shared approach reflects a modern understanding of health care—one that values collaboration, respects professional expertise and keeps patients at the centre.

The real impact of this bill will be felt by patients and communities, including those communities I am proud to represent across Maribyrnong. Maribyrnong is a diverse and growing electorate with families juggling work and care responsibilities, older Australians ageing in place and many people managing chronic and complex health conditions. Like many communities across Australia, we rely heavily on strong primary and community based care to keep people well and out of hospital. In primary healthcare settings across Maribyrnong, designated registered nurse prescribers will be able to support patients with more timely access to PBS subsidised medicines, particularly for ongoing and chronic conditions. That means fewer delays, fewer unnecessary appointments and a smoother experience for patients whilst also allowing general practitioners to focus their time and expertise.

In aged care, in places like Wintringham in Avondale Heights, where many residents live with multiple health conditions and frequently require changes to medication, this reform supports faster clinical decision-making and better continuity of care. For older residents and their families, that means greater confidence that care is timely, coordinated and responsive. In disability and mental health settings, designated registered nurse prescribers will be able to contribute to medication management as part of a broader person centred approach to care, supporting stability, dignity and recovery and helping to ensure people receive the right care at the right time close to home. And in hospital settings, particularly at the point of discharge, this reform will help ensure patients can leave hospital safely and promptly with the medicines they need, easing pressure on hospital beds, improving patient flow and reducing the risk of people falling through the cracks as they transition back into the community.

These are practical, real-world improvements that will make a meaningful difference in places like Maribyrnong. They reflect Labor's commitment to building a healthcare system that works for communities not just on paper but in practice.

This reform is also being delivered in a coordinated and genuinely national way. All states and territories are currently amending their drugs and poisons legislation to enable designated registered nurse prescribers by July 2026. That level of alignment reflects a shared understanding that this reform is necessary and overdue and will deliver real benefits to patients no matter where they live. This national consistency is important. It means that, whether people are accessing care in a local GP clinic, an aged-care facility, a community health service or a hospital, the system is better equipped to respond quickly, safely and effectively to their needs. It also provides greater certainty for our health workforce. Nurses who live and work in our local communities can practise within a clear, nationally consistent framework supported by strong professional standards and shared expectations across the country.

This bill is also about valuing and supporting our health workforce. By enabling designated registered nurse prescribing, we are creating clearer career pathways for nurses, improving job satisfaction and helping retain skilled clinicians within our health system. At a time when workforce pressures are one of the greatest challenges facing our healthcare system, supporting nurses to work their full scope of practice is not just sensible—it's essential.

The Unleashing the Potential of our Health WorkforceScope of Practice Review, led by Professor Mark Cormack, was unequivocal on this point. It found that barriers to working to full scope of practice prevent the most effective use of the existing workforce and undermine the sustainability of our health system over time. This reform responds directly to that finding. It empowers health professionals to contribute fully within their areas of expertise, removes unnecessary constraints on safe and effective care, and ensures our workforce is supported to deliver more for patients. It is another way that this government is strengthening Medicare—not just by investing in it but by modernising how it works for patients, providers and the workforce who sustain it.

This bill is thoughtful, practical and forward-looking, but it is also something more than that. It is a clear statement of this government's values and of our belief in a strong, universal Medicare system, one that evolves with the needs of the community it serves and is built on trust in the people who deliver it every day.

This legislation modernises our laws to reflect contemporary healthcare practice. It embraces evidence based reform that supports collaboration, flexibility and patient centred care. It supports our healthcare workforce, particularly our nurses, by recognising their skills, their training and their vital role across every part of our healthcare system. And, most importantly, it improves access to affordable medicines for Australians, which have now been made even cheaper because of our government's cheaper medicines policy. It's just $25 a script, like it was back in 2004.

It means fewer delays in care, better continuity for patients and a health system that works more smoothly, more fairly and more humanely, especially when people are unwell, vulnerable or caring for someone that they love. That is the kind of reform Australians expect from our Labor government, and that is exactly why I commend this bill to the House.

Alice Jordan-Baird (Gorton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of the Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025 brought forward by the Minister for Health and Ageing, and I commend him for doing so. This bill is about making it easier for Australians to access the prescription medicine they need. It's about lightening the load for hospital emergency departments and GPs. It's about empowering our highly skilled, highly educated workforce of registered nurses to do what they were trained to do. It's about equitable access to health care for all Australians, including those managing chronic diseases and health conditions and those living in regional, rural and remote areas, who feel issues with access to health care even more keenly.

This bill is just one piece of the puzzle when it comes to the Albanese Labor government delivering on our commitment to make sure that health care is affordable and accessible for every Australian and that, for Australians with a chronic health condition, looking after their health is easier and more manageable. It's a practical bill which mobilises our existing workforce of registered nurses to deliver timely, affordable and accessible prescriptions and delivers for all Australians.

With this bill, we amend the National Health Act 1953 to allow a registered nurse endorsed against the registration standard to prescribe certain medicines that can be supplied under the PBS and attract Commonwealth subsidy. We also amend the Health Insurance Act 1973 to include registered nurses, enabling review of the provision of their prescribing services by the Professional Services Review Scheme. This bill will allow registered nurses to prescribe medicines under the PBS, and the medicines able to be prescribed under the PBS will be considered by the independent Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee, or PBAC. With this legislation, registered nurses will be empowered to deliver high-quality care directly to people in the community. For those who receive care from RNs, it will mean less GP visits or long waits in hospital emergency departments. For others, it will mean better access to doctors and emergency care when they need it.

In Australia, we have a workforce of more than 450,000 registered nurses and midwives. It's the largest clinical workforce in Australia. Registered nurses go through intensive training, often including more than 800 hours of clinical placements. And I know my friend the member for Bullwinkel is a wonderful nurse. We have many nurses in the House on our side of the chamber. There's no doubt they are highly skilled and highly educated. They work in many contexts, including hospitals, clinics, general practices, residential aged-care services, urgent care clinics and also in the House of Representatives, yet their expertise has not been fully utilised in primary care. Allowing them to prescribe under the PBS will boost efficiency, strengthen care coordination and free up GPs and nurse practitioners to focus on patients with more complex needs, as well as support the discharge and outpatient processes in hospitals so that more people can be seen quicker. And it will strengthen the health system by easing workforce pressures and building long-term capacity and sustainability.

This change has been landed on after extensive research and consultation. In 2022, we announced that, if elected, we would establish a strengthening Medicare taskforce to provide advice on boosting affordability, access and support for patients with ongoing and chronic illness in primary care. This bill is the product of our continued commitment to better health outcomes for Australians with ongoing and chronic illness. It seeks to implement reforms identified by the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce and the subsequent scope-of-practice review. It's also underpinned by comprehensive research and consultation by the Nursing and Midwifery Board, who investigated the potential for registered nurses working to their full scope of practice to better health outcomes for Australians.

A designated RN prescriber registration standard has been developed and came into effect in September 2025. The standard describes the necessary qualifications that a registered nurse must demonstrate when applying to the NMBA to attain and retain the endorsement of scheduled medicines. This registration standard was developed in consultation with numerous stakeholders in the industry, including the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, the Australian Medical Association, palliative care services, the Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives and the Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association.

I'm really proud to be up here supporting this bill. This bill brings in practical, grounded change that will have real-world impacts when it comes to affordable, accessible health care for all Australians and, so importantly, support for Australians managing chronic health conditions. It's us looking at the system, recognising that there's potential for the better use of resources and effectiveness and making a change that will have an immediate impact. For everyday Australians it will mean more available appointments with your GP, with RNs helping out with long-term prescriptions, easing the pressure on GPs. And it will relieve pressure on our emergency departments so you can see a doctor faster. For older Australians, it could mean having your medicine prescribed in the comfort of your own home instead of making the trek out to the doctors. And, for nurses, it'll mean the opportunity to use the full scope of their practice.

In my electorate of Gorton, access to health services is an area that's struggling to keep up with demand. According to the last census, more than 28,000 people in Gorton have a long-term health condition. In the city of Brimbank, a staggering 28 per cent of residents 18 and older have been diagnosed with two or more chronic diseases, conditions they'll need to manage for the rest of their lives. Some of these conditions might have been prevented with greater access to health services earlier on. That's why record investments we're making into bulk-billed GP clinics, cheaper PBS scripts and hospitals are so incredibly important. But these Australians need support to manage these conditions right now. For my constituents with chronic conditions, this will make a huge difference. They'll have another option to have their long-term medications prescribed to them, and it'll take pressure off the health system they rely on, meaning better access to doctors and hospitals when they need them.

For older people in my electorate, such as the amazing folks at the Burnside Retirement Village, this will be a huge help too. Many retirement villages, like Burnside, have a registered nurse who make the rounds to residents. Under this new legislation, that nurse may be able to redo the resident's prescriptions, meaning no need to hike over to the GP just to get a new prescription. For those residents on pensions, it'll mean more of that money in their pocket. For GPs in the surrounding areas, it'll mean newly available appointments to service other people in the area.

This will be a big change for women too. According to the NMBA annual report, women made up 87.9 per cent of nurses in 2025. In nursing as well as in other segments of the care sector, including aged care and disability supports, women are hugely overrepresented. The underpayment of workers in this female dominated sector accounts for a significant part of the persisting gender pay gap in Australia, alongside other factors, including persistent differences in pay for the same work, higher rates of part-time work due to caring responsibilities, lack of flexibility to accommodate caring and other responsibilities in higher paying roles, and more. The compensation and opportunities we afford workers in the care sector speak to how we value them. They speak to how we value women. Empowering registered nurses to prescribe on the PBS will bring financial benefit to women, and it'll also mean the chance to put the full breadth of their expertise to use. It's a commonsense change that recognises the potential of women in the care sector to bring even greater benefit to our society, and it's a recognition of their value.

It'll also benefit those women needing prescriptions. Women are 10 per cent more likely than men to be dispensed medication prescriptions. That means more time at the doctor and less money in their pockets. For many women, this change will enhance their safe and timely access to medicines. It's another piece of the puzzle of addressing gender inequality and ensuring that women's time, money, health and expertise are properly valued.

We're a government that recognises the value of these things, a government that's invested in landmark commitments in women's health after decades of neglect, including $573.3 million to deliver more choice, lower costs and better health care for women; the first new contraceptive pills added to the PBS in 30 years, Yaz, Yasmin and Slinda; the first new menopause treatments on the PBS in 20 years, Estrogel, Estrogel Pro and Prometrium; better access to IUDs and birth control implants; and 22 endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics, with another 11 opening soon. We also brought in paid prac for nurses, teachers and social workers because we understand that doing hundreds of hours of placements without being paid and without time to work is another way that women experience disadvantage. I couldn't be happier to return to work in 2026 knowing that I'm serving alongside so many other brilliant women in our government. We know our own value, the value of the work we do and the value of our health. Because we're here representing these things on a national stage, our policy reflects the value of women too.

This bill is part of our broader commitment to ensure that, when it comes to affordable and accessible health care, no Australian is left behind. Last week, National Cabinet reached a landmark agreement to deliver record funding to state and territory hospitals—$25 billion in additional funding for public hospitals, three times more additional funding for public hospitals than under the last five-year agreement. For my constituents in Gorton, that's money flowing to Sunshine Hospital, Werribee hospital and the brand new Footscray Hospital, just a hop, skip and a jump away in the inner west, which will open for patients in the next few weeks, making sure that, as we look to the next five years, access to high-quality public hospitals and health care is a certainty.

We'll also keep working to take the pressure off these hospitals by opening more urgent care clinics and Medicare mental health clinics across the country. As of this week, we've now opened 120 of the 137 Medicare urgent care clinics. We've opened 50 of the 91 Medicare mental health clinics in our national network, and we're making strides towards our commitment of 90 per cent of GP visits bulk-billed before the end of the decade. Last week, I was lucky enough to visit Our Medical in the heart of Caroline Springs, a bulk-billing clinic. They have 22 bulk-billed GPs, as well as bulk-billed radiology and pathology and a bulk-billed respiratory specialist. There is no need to make an appointment; you can just walk in and see a GP until 10 o'clock at night, every night. They have a pharmacy open extended hours, a full dental clinic, physios and a dietician.

Quality local care is so important to the health and wellbeing of a community. For Caroline Springs residents, having a bulk-billing clinic in the heart of the community, right across the road from Lake Caroline where locals walk, cycle and use the outdoor gym equipment, makes it easy to prioritise health. That's why it's so important to continue our investment in bulk-billing. In my electorate of Gorton, the GP bulk-billing rate was 88.8 per cent in June 2025, and an additional 17 GP practices in Gorton indicated their intent to become a Medicare bulk-billing practice. I'll keep visiting these medical centres in my electorate and talking about the benefits of bulk-billing so that as many of my constituents as possible know they can access free primary health care.

Nationally, over 3,300 general practices now bulk-bill every single one of their patients—1,300 of which are new as a direct result of our tripling of the bulk-billing incentive. This is huge for Australians. It's accessible primary health care. It's not worrying about money when you get sick. It's more people going to the doctors when they feel unwell. It's about proactively looking after your health—and making that easier to do. It's taking pressure off the system down the track and making the future of our healthcare system more sustainable. It's good policy underpinned by the principle that no matter who you are or where you live you deserve access to quality health care. I'm so passionate about improving access to quality health care for my constituents and all Australians.

Those opposite are fighting amongst themselves. Health care is the last thing on their minds. That's actually a good thing for Australians, given those opposite voted against cheaper medicines six times. But we're not worried about that; we're getting on with the job of delivering for Australians with the bill before us. I'm so excited to go back to Gorton and talk to my constituents about this bill. I'm excited to talk to the older Australians, like the residents of the Burnside Retirement Village, who might be able to have their prescriptions written at home instead of waiting at the doctor's office; to the nurses in my electorate, who'll have the opportunity to see more patients and use their full scope of practice; to the almost 30,000 people living with chronic conditions, who'll have more options to receive their long-term prescriptions; and to all of my constituents, who'll benefit from relieved pressure on our healthcare system. I'm really proud to support this bill, and I commend it to the House.

Zhi Soon (Banks, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to 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.