Ash Ambihaipahar (Barton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Health and Ageing. How are the Albanese Labor government's record investments in Medicare making it easier for Australians to see a doctor for free, and why is it important to lift bulk-billing rates after a decade of cuts and neglect?

Mark Butler (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thanks to the member for Barton. She told me that her time at St Vincent de Paul before she came to this place reinforced, for her, the importance of health care being more accessible and more affordable for all Australians. That's why we have a Strengthening Medicare agenda that rests on four core pillars. Rolling out 137 urgent care clinics—

Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Shadow Minister for Veterans’ Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What about Taree?

Mark Butler (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

including the Carlton urgent care clinic that we visited 18 months ago and has already seen more than—I'm not going to respond to this provocation.

Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Shadow Minister for Veterans’ Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Oh, come on!

Mark Butler (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm not going to respond again. I got suckered yesterday. I'm not going to be suckered again.

More doctors and cheaper medicines as well—but the central pillar of our agenda is turning around bulk-billing rates, which were in freefall when we came to government after a decade of cuts inflicted on our cherished Medicare system by those opposite, including the now Leader of the Opposition. Our first decision back in 2023 was to triple the bulk-billing incentive that GPs receive when they bulk-bill pensioners, concession card holders and kids. I'm pleased to report to the House that the bulk-billing rate for those 11 million Australians now sits at 92½ per cent.

But we were also very worried about the bulk-billing rate for people who don't have that concession card, which was continuing to slide after the cuts made by those opposite. That is why, as the Prime Minister said last year, for the first time ever, we extended bulk-billing support to every single Australian and also decided to pay an incentive to general practices that switched to bulk-billing all of their patients all of the time. I'm happy to say that, in just three months, an additional 1,300 general practices have switched from charging gap fees back in last October to bulk-billing everyone.

I'm particularly pleased to report to the member for Barton that more than three out of every five general practices in her electorate are now 100 per cent bulk-billing practices, because it's good for the practice, it's good for the doctors, and, most importantly, it's good for their patients. It means more Australians can feel confident that they can go to their doctor whenever they feel they need to rather than when they feel they can afford to. I also want to say that this has been especially good for those Australians who don't have the benefit of a concession card. In just the last three months, the bulk-billing rate for those Australians has climbed by eight per cent, delivering millions of additional free visits to the doctor.

We know there's more to do. We know there are more improvements to make, but our record investment here is already making a huge difference to millions of Australians and delivering a stronger Medicare.