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

Our green and gold Medicare card means opportunity. It means receiving high-quality health care, regardless of your bank balance. I'm so proud to be part of the Albanese Labor government, which is committed to strengthening Medicare for generations to come, and this bill, the Health Insurance Amendment (Incentive Payments and Other Measures) Bill 2026, is an important part of exactly that. Labor has always and will always fight for accessible health care. Medicare is one of the reasons I joined the Australian Labor Party when I was a teenager.

We have more than 50,000 families across my electorate of Gorton, and new ones are moving in, building their homes and their futures in Melbourne's western suburbs. These families are feeling the cost of living when paying their bills at the checkout or at the bowser. With competing cost-of-living pressures, these families shouldn't be worrying about the cost of seeing a doctor as well. These families deserve regular access to affordable GP appointments, and that's why this bill matters.

The bill before us provides a clear legislative framework for our primary care incentive payment programs—programs like the Medicare Bulk Billing Practice Incentive Program, which is increasing access to free GP appointments right across the country. This bill is about strengthening the accessibility of health care for all Australians. It's about making sure that every Australian can access the care they need, no matter where they live. It's another piece in a huge body of work by this government that is ensuring that quality health care is accessible and affordable for every Australian.

Our introduction of Medicare bulk-billing clinics is really making a huge difference in our communities across the country. I'm really proud to report that, in my community, there are now 24 Medicare bulk-billing practices—up from 13 before our bulk-billing changes were introduced. That means that at 75 per cent of our clinics in Gorton you can see a doctor for free, and this is all thanks to Labor's single largest investment in Medicare ever, which is delivering an additional 18 million bulk-billed GP visits every year so more Australians can see a GP for free.

With the Sunshine and Melton urgent care clinics nearby, our community can also access free walk-in urgent care. The Sunshine and Melton urgent care clinics have together seen over 46,000 visits since opening. This is massive. It means that, in Melbourne's western suburbs, people in our community have access to free walk-in care when they need it. With this budget, we're making urgent care clinics like the ones in Melton and Sunshine permanent.

Urgent care clinics play a really important role in taking the pressure off our emergency departments. In the western suburbs through the Melton urgent care clinic in the member for Hawke's electorate, the Sunshine urgent care clinic in the member for Fraser's electorate and the Werribee urgent care clinic in the member for Lalor's electorate, urgent care clinics are making a real difference in our community in the west. The Sunshine urgent care clinic has seen over 12,000 presentations since its opening in August last year.

Let me tell you about one of those patient experiences. A constituent of mine, Carl from Burnside Heights, recently visited the Sunshine urgent care clinic. He had an injury at home on a Sunday night at about 9 pm. He was at Sunshine urgent care clinic by 9.15 pm, seen by a clinician, had six stitches put in and was out by 9:40 pm. How good is that? Carl was able to access walk-in care close to his home in Burnside Heights. That is exactly what we introduced urgent care clinics for: when you need urgent care and you can't possibly wait for a GP appointment, but it's not serious enough for the emergency room. This means that Australians are getting the care they need when they need it without overloading our doctors and emergency systems.

That's not all we're doing to strengthen Medicare and our healthcare workforce here in Australia. We took health care to the election, and right across the board we're legislating change. We've capped the cost of PBS-listed medicines at just $25, the lowest it's been since 2004—when I was in primary school—which has seen a saving of more than $14 million in my electorate of Gorton. We've doubled the number of medicines now available for 60-day prescriptions, and we've introduced new medicines to the PBS. We've launched the Medicare Mental Health Check In, a free service connecting you with professional mental health support over the phone. For many in our community this is a lifeline.

We're growing the health workforce to deliver more doctors and nurses than ever before, including the largest GP training program in Australian history and hundreds of scholarships for nurses and midwives to extend their skills and qualifications. This includes incentives like the Commonwealth Prac Payment, which means students on their mandatory nursing and midwifery placements will be paid for their work, making life easier for our nursing and midwifery students.

We're also tripling the bulk-billing incentive for people who need to see their GP most often, helping pensioners, concession card holders and families with children. We're investing landmark commitments in women's health, working to reverse decades of neglect to women's health. We've now opened 33 endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics, and more than 380,000 women have accessed new, cheaper contraceptives in the first year of their listing on the pharmaceutical benefits schedule. Initiatives like these are saving Australian women and their families thousands of dollars on health-related costs across their lifetimes.

We're also backing men's health. For too long, mental health in Australia has been overlooked. We've established and are expanding a network of Medicare mental health centres, helping Australians have better access to mental healthcare services. We're also delivering $11.3 million to provide men's healthcare training to primary healthcare workers and to develop a campaign to encourage men to visit the doctor. That's in addition to $20.7 million in grassroots initiatives that support men's mental health and wellbeing in community settings.

Today we're establishing a clear legislative framework for Commonwealth primary care incentive payment programs, including the Medicare Bulk Billing Practice Incentive Program. Primary care incentive programs encourage GP practices to deliver high quality, continuous and accessible care through incentive payments. The Medicare Bulk Billing Practice Incentive Program established by Labor is probably the most well-known program, but there are also several other programs accessible to practices and doctors that ensure Australians receive the best possible care. The General Practice in Aged Care Incentive is one such program, which supports older Australians living in residential aged care. It encourages GPs to go out and visit their older patients at their residential aged-care facility, rather than seeing them at their own practice. This makes it easier for older Australians to access ongoing quality health care in a way that's most accessible to them, supporting the health and wellbeing of older Australians and reducing the pressure on our hospitals by ensuring continuous, consistent care.

The longstanding Practice Incentives Program encourages doctors to meet outcomes that plug gaps in the healthcare system and ensure accessible health care for all Australians. These outcomes include offering care after hours, making e-health services available, providing teaching sessions to medical students, servicing rural and regional areas and more. This is complemented by the Workforce Incentive Program, which assists GP practices with the cost of employing a large range of health professionals from various disciplines, as well as encouraging doctors to provide services in regional, rural and remote communities and attracting doctors with additional advanced skills to work outside metropolitan areas, improving access to quality and comprehensive medical, nursing and allied health services in regional, rural and remote areas. These programs are such an important way for us to realise quality, accessible and affordable health care for all Australians, to make seeing a doctor affordable, to attract doctors to where they're most needed and to make sure that all Australians, not just those who live in metropolitan areas, can access multidisciplinary health care that addresses their specific concerns.

That's why this bill is so incredibly important. Currently, these incentive payment programs operate without a clear and consistent legislative framework behind them. That's a gap because it impacts their effective administration, including strong process around compliance and integrity. The bill before us plugs this gap, inserting a new part into the Health Insurance Act 1973 which provides a consistent statutory basis for the establishment and administration of these programs. This will improve the effectiveness of these programs in a few ways. It will give healthcare providers and the government more certainty by giving these programs a strong backing. It will create clear and consistent rules for how these programs are run, including how providers can participate, how often decisions are made and stronger protections to ensure decisions are fair. And it will protect public funding by making sure the right rules are in place for compliance using information and recovering overpayments in incentive payment programs.

This bill also modernises the laws that underpin these programs, allowing some administrative tasks to be carried out automatically while including safeguards to ensure the process is transparent, properly monitored and accountable as well. This will help manage large numbers of applications and decisions more efficiently while still protecting people's rights to have those decisions reviewed. There will also be very clear review processes as well. Providers can ask for the decision to be reconsidered internally, and, if they are still unhappy with the outcome, they can apply for an independent review by the Administrative Review Tribunal. This bill will do a lot to support the good administration of these programs, but it won't change them. Providers currently participating in these programs won't need to reapply, and there won't be any changes to substantive eligibility criteria or payment amounts, meaning that these programs can continue delivering good outcomes for Australians.

This bill is about protecting Medicare. It's about making sure these programs have the strong legislative foundations they deserve. It strengthens integrity, it improves transparency, it gives providers greater certainty and it helps ensure public funding is spent where it should be. Most importantly, it helps protect the programs that Australians rely on—programs that make it easier to see a GP, programs that support our health workforce, programs that make health care more affordable and more accessible—because every Australian deserves access to quality health care no matter where they live, no matter how much they earn. That has always been the Labor way, and it's what this government is delivering—stronger Medicare, better health care and a health system that's there for every Australian. I commend this bill to the House.

Scott Buchholz (Wright, Liberal Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I understand the member for Pearce would like to present a copy of her speech for incorporation into Hansard, in accordance with the resolution agreed to on 6 November 2025.

Tracey Roberts (Pearce, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

That's correct. Thank you.

The incorporated speech reads as follows—

Thank you, Deputy Speaker.

I rise today to speak in support of the Health Insurance Amendment (Incentive Payments and Other Measures) Bill 2026.

I do so as the Member for Pearce, a community that continues to grow and evolve, with families, retirees, small business owners, health professionals and workers who all share a common expectation of our health system. They expect that it will be there when they need it. They expect it to be fair, accessible and reliable. And they expect that the systems underpinning their care are well governed, transparent and focused on delivering the best possible outcomes for patients.

Those expectations are reasonable. Australians rightly place enormous trust in our health system.

Every day, people rely on Medicare, on general practitioners, on specialists, on allied health professionals, on nurses and pharmacists, and on the countless administrators and support staff who keep the system operating. While most people do not spend much time thinking about the legislation that underpins those services, the work we do in this Parliament helps ensure those systems remain effective, accountable and fit for purpose.

That is why this Bill deserves the support of the House.

Although many of its measures may appear technical, they are important. Good legislation is not always the legislation that attracts the greatest public attention. Often, it is the legislation that quietly strengthens the institutions Australians rely upon every day.

This Bill does exactly that.

It provides a modern and consistent legislative framework for Commonwealth health incentive programs, strengthens governance arrangements, improves compliance mechanisms and updates the legislative architecture supporting the administration of Medicare.

Those are sensible reforms.

Health policy is often judged by the services people receive, and rightly so. But behind every consultation, every health assessment and every patient interaction sits a framework of legislation, administration and accountability. When those foundations are clear and robust, the system functions more effectively. When they are outdated or fragmented, unnecessary complexity can emerge for governments, providers and ultimately patients.

This Bill recognises that reality.

For many years, Commonwealth incentive programs have played an important role in encouraging quality care, preventive health and better health outcomes across Australia. They support providers to deliver services that improve the health of patients while strengthening the broader health system.

As healthcare continues to evolve, it is appropriate that the legislative framework supporting those programs evolves as well.

One of the strengths of this legislation is that it establishes a clearer statutory basis for the operation of these programs. Rather than relying on arrangements that have developed over time, the Bill provides greater certainty about how incentive payments are administered, monitored and governed.

That certainty benefits everyone. It benefits government because programs operate within a clearer legislative framework.

It benefits healthcare providers because expectations are more transparent and administrative arrangements are more consistent.

Most importantly, it benefits patients because confidence in the integrity of the health system is strengthened.

Public confidence matters. Australians expect that public funds are administered responsibly. They expect that incentive payments supporting healthcare delivery are subject to appropriate oversight and accountability. They expect that programs funded by taxpayers operate according to clear rules and deliver public value. Those are entirely reasonable expectations.

This Bill helps meet them.

It introduces a more coherent approach to administering Commonwealth incentive programs while providing appropriate compliance mechanisms that protect the integrity of those programs.

Some people hear the word "compliance" and assume it simply means additional regulation. But good compliance is not about creating unnecessary bureaucracy. Good compliance provides confidence that public programs are operating as Parliament intended.

It protects taxpayers. It protects honest providers.

And it protects the integrity of Australia's health system.

That integrity becomes increasingly important as our healthcare system grows in scale and complexity.

Australia's health system is one of our nation's greatest strengths. It combines universal Medicare with a highly skilled health wo�kforce, world-class research and innovation, and partnerships across primary care, hospitals, community health and private providers.

Maintaining that system requires more than funding alone.

It requires legislation that keeps pace with changing models of care. It requires governance arrangements that provide certainty.

And it requires accountability that gives both providers and patients confidence that public resources are being used appropriately.

This Bill contributes to those objectives.

It also recognises something important about modern public administration. Legislation should be clear. Programs should operate according to transparent statutory authority. Administrative arrangements should be understandable.

And governments should continually review whether existing legislative frameworks remain fit for purpose.

That is good governance.

These principles are not abstract. They shape how effectively governments deliver services and how confidently providers engage with Commonwealth programs. For healthcare providers, certainty matters.

Doctors, nurses, allied health practitioners and practice managers already navigate an increasingly complex healthcare environment. They should be able to participate in Commonwealth incentive programs knowing that those programs are supported by a clear legislative framework with transparent rules and consistent administration. Providing that certainty allows clinicians to focus on what matters most: caring for patients.

In Pearce, I regularly meet healthcare professionals who demonstrate extraordinary commitment to their communities.

Whether they are working in general practice, community pharmacies, aged care, specialist clinics or allied health settings, they are united by a commitment to improving people's lives. They work long hours. They manage increasing demand.

They adapt to changing technologies and evolving models of care. They deserve systems that support rather than complicate their work.

Legislation such as this helps achieve that objective.

It is also worth recognising that the Bill includes the renaming of the Health Insurance Act 1973 as the Medicare Act 1973. While that may appear to be a relatively modest change, names matter.

For generations of Australians, Medicare has become synonymous with universal healthcare. It is one of the country's most recognised public institutions. Aligning the title of the legislation with the system Australians know reflects both clarity and common understanding.

It makes the legislation more accessible and more readily understood by the community. Good legislation should not be unnecessarily confusing. Where improvements can be made to clarity and accessibility, Parliament should support them.

This legislation does exactly that.

Importantly, this Bill should also be viewed within the broader context of strengthening Australia's healthcare system.

Healthcare is not static. Medical technology changes. Clinical practice evolves. Patient expectations continue to develop. Population growth and demographic change create new challenges for governments at every level.

Legislation must evolve alongside those changes.

That does not always require sweeping reform. Sometimes it requires careful, practical improvements that strengthen existing systems while preserving what Australians value most.

This Bill represents precisely that kind of reform.

It builds upon existing arrangements rather than replacing them. It improves governance without disrupting patient care. It strengthens administration without changing the fundamental principles that underpin Medicare.

That is sensible public policy.

Good governments understand that effective reform often occurs incrementally. Small improvements, consistently pursued, can produce significant long-term benefits.

Strengthening legislative frameworks. Improving accountability. Providing greater certainty. Modernising administration.

These may not always dominate public debate, but they contribute meaningfully to stronger public institutions. In many respects, this reflects the broader responsibility of Parliament. Our responsibility is not simply to respond to immediate challenges. It is also to ensure that the legislative foundations supporting essential public services remain robust for the future.

Australians expect that of us.

They expect Parliament to maintain the institutions that serve them well. They expect legislation to be contemporary. They expect governments to administer public programs responsibly. And they expect taxpayer funds to be managed with integrity.

This Bill reflects those expectations.

Of course, legislation alone does not deliver healthcare. People do. Every day across Australia, health professionals demonstrate remarkable skill, compassion and professionalism.

General practitioners build long-term relationships with families. Nurses provide care in hospitals, aged care facilities and community settings. Pharmacists offer trusted advice and accessible healthcare services. Allied health professionals help people recover, maintain independence and improve quality of life. Specialists deliver highly skilled treatment across every field of medicine. Behind them stand thousands of administrative staff whose work keeps appointments running, records maintained and services delivered.

All of them contribute to Australia's healthcare system. All of them deserve legislative frameworks that support their work.

This Bill contributes to that objective by ensuring Commonwealth incentive programs operate within a clearer and more consistent statutory framework. Ultimately, however, health policy is always about people. It is about ensuring Australians have confidence in the institutions that support their care. It is about maintaining systems that are transparent, accountable and well governed.

It is about ensuring governments remain responsible stewards of public resources. And it is about creating conditions in which health professionals can continue delivering high-quality care to communities across our nation.

For the people of Pearce, these principles matter.

Ours is a growing electorate with increasing demand for quality healthcare services. Families raising young children, older Australians planning for retirement, people managing chronic conditions and individuals seeking preventive care all rely on a healthcare system that is stable, trustworthy and responsive. They may never read the legislation debated in this chamber, but they experience its effects through the services they receive.

That is why getting the legislative framework right matters .

The measures contained in this Bill strengthen the governance of Commonwealth health incentive programs, improve accountability, modernise administration and reinforce confidence in the systems that support Medicare.

They are practical reforms. They are balanced reforms. And they are reforms that will help ensure Australia's health system continues to operate effectively into the future.

I also acknowledge the many organisations, health professionals and public servants who contribute to developing and administering these programs. Public policy is strongest when informed by practical experience, careful consultation and a shared commitment to improving outcomes for Australians.

This legislation reflects that approach.

It is measured. It is considered. And it strengthens the legislative foundations supporting one of Australia's most important public institutions.

Deputy Speaker, Australians rightly value Medicare.

They value a health system built on fairness, accessibility and quality care. Maintaining that system requires ongoing attention not only to frontline services but also to the legislative and administrative frameworks that support them.

This Bill demonstrates that commitment.

It modernises important aspects of our health legislation. It strengthens governance. It improves accountability. It provides greater certainty for providers. And it reinforces public confidence in the administration of Commonwealth health programs.

For those reasons, I commend the Health Insurance Amendment (Incentive Payments and Other Measures) Bill 2026 to the House, and I support its passage.

Thank you.

Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I too rise to make a contribution, just as the member for Pearce just did, on the Health Insurance Amendment (Incentive Payments and Other Measures) Bill 2026. At its heart is Medicare. Medicare is built on a simple but powerful principle that every Australian should be able to access quality health care when they need it regardless of their income, their postcode or their stage of life. It's one of the Australian nation's greatest achievements. For more than four decades, Medicare has been there for Australians during some of life's most significant moments. It's been there for young families welcoming new babies and children into the world, for workers recovering from illnesses, for older Australians managing those chronic illnesses, diseases and conditions and for communities relying on trusted, local GPs and doctors. It reflects one of our most important national values.

Health care should be available to everyone, not just to those who can afford it. Many people prioritise their health and paying their everyday essentials. That is a fact. We know that people out there who wish to have private insurance health cover sometimes prioritise it, and it makes them feel safer, more secure and they know that, if it's needed, it's there.

This Health Insurance Amendment (Incentive Payments and Other Measures) Bill establishes that clear legislative framework for Commonwealth primary care incentive payment programs, including the Medicare bulk-billing practice incentive program. While these programs have played an important role in our community and an important role in supporting primary care, they've lacked a clear legislative framework—a clear direction. That has affected some of the administration and limited the ability to effectively ensure compliance, maintain the integrity and support the full expansion which this bill fixes. It creates a stronger and more transparent framework for administering incentive programs that support GPs, nurses, clinics and the healthcare providers right across Australia. It strengthens accountability, improves program integrity and provides certainty for the future.

Importantly, it ensures that financial incentives designed to improve access to health care continue to support those who need them most. That's important. These reforms are part of this government's broader commitment to strengthening Medicare and making health care more affordable and accessible for every single Australian. That commitment is not just a slogan; it has been backed by the biggest investment seen in Medicare in this country in the nation's history—an investment of $8.5 billion to strengthen bulk-billing and support the training of more doctors and nurses in our health system. This is absolutely transformational investment—investment that will make a difference. It represents a recognition that strong public health care is not just a cost to be managed but a necessity. It is an investment in healthier people, stronger communities and more, which means we will have a more productive nation.

A key part of this investment has been the expansion, as I said earlier, at the beginning of the speech, of bulk-billing incentives and Medicare. On 1 November, the government expanded the general practice bulk-billing incentive to all Australians, and, at the same time, practices that bulk-bill all their patients now receive an additional 12.5 per cent incentive payment. That certainly is an incentive. They're saying to GP clinics around the place, 'If your practice bulk-bills its patients, you'll now receive an additional 12.5 per cent on top of the incentive payment.' That's been taken up by clinics around the country. That reform was designed to make it easier for general practices to continue offering that affordable care while ensuring that patients can access treatment without worrying about those out-of-pocket expenses. It was a worry if you had a family and you were working—mum was working, dad was working, the kids were at school. If you have to be out of pocket every time you visit a doctor, it is a worrying thing. Sometimes that decision could be made where you forgo your healthcare needs for the economics of your family. That is a dangerous position to be in. We want people to be able to access the health care that they require.

We know that this 12.5 per cent incentive is working. The last quarterly figures show that the national bulk-billing rate reached 81.9 per cent between January and March this year, an absolute increase. It's going upwards. It's an increase of 4.6 percent compared to the same time last year. Every single state and territory across the nation, across Australia, has experienced an increase in bulk-billing. In my home state alone, bulk-billing has risen to 80.4 per cent across the state, representing one of the strongest improvements in the country. We heard, the other day, other statistics around the country. They are all increasing, and this is a good thing. It means people are having to fork less out of their pocket when visiting a GP. These aren't just the statistics. There are thousands of Australians who are now able to walk into a doctor's clinic to their GP; receive the care they need, the advice that they need and the prescriptions that they need; and walk out knowing that they've not been burdened with that additional cost.

The success of these reforms is also evident in the growing number of fully bulk-billed practices across Australia. What do we mean by fully bulk-billing practices across Australia? We mean 100 per cent bulk-billing within their clinic. There are now more than 3,800 Medicare bulk-billing practices operating nationally across the country. What makes this particularly significant is that more than 1,400 of these were previously mixed-billing clinics. What does that mean? It means that sometimes they bulk-billed depending on the patient, and sometimes they didn't. What they're doing now is bulk-billing every single person that walks in that front door into their clinic seeking medical advice, seeking treatment and seeking prescriptions.

That is really important because that gives the confidence to those people that I spoke about earlier, those families that are doing it tough that may have previously considered whether they received the health care that they really required and was a necessity or whether they put food on the table. This makes a real difference to those working Australians, people that are doing it tough on low incomes and paying the bills. Together with the tax incentive that they received as of yesterday, this plays a big role as well. That's something I'm very proud of on this side of the House. It also means that practices that once charged some patients are now able to bulk-bill everyone, as I said.

It's a remarkable shift from where we were to where we are. It means that Australians are seeing real improvement in access to health care. Around 97 per cent of Australians now live within a 20-minute drive of a bulk-billing practice. That doesn't include the out-of-hours Medicare centres that have been set up all across the country. That really matters because healthcare accessibility should never depend on your postcode, your income or where you live. Whether you live in a major city, a suburban community or a regional area, you deserve access to affordable health care close to home.

We're not saying everywhere is exactly the same. There are areas we have to focus on to ensure that they as well get the services that for whatever reason could be lacking in their areas. We should be focusing on that and concentrating on that to ensure that what we've seen generally across the country is actually taken to every single town and regional area and suburb of the cities across the country because, as I said, healthcare is so important.

The bill before us supports the ongoing operation of the Medicare Bulk Billing Practice Incentive Program itself. This program is helping to create stronger primary care systems by ensuring clinics that commit to bulk-billing their patients are appropriately supported. What the government is saying is: you bulk-bill, and we'll support you. It's an important message to our medical doctors. It reinforces the central role that primary care plays in our healthcare system. When primary care works well, everyone benefits. People receive treatment earlier, chronic illnesses are managed more effectively, hospital admissions are reduced and pressure on our emergency departments is eased. Every dollar invested in effective primary care saves costs elsewhere in the system while delivering better health outcomes for Aussies.

The government's commitment to health care extends beyond traditional general practice; it also includes record investments in, as I said earlier, the Medicare urgent care clinics. As we've heard before in this place, the government is investing $1.8 billion over five years with ongoing funding secured into the future to ensure that Australians have access to urgent health care when they need it most. In my home state of South Australia, this provides certainty for a network of nine operational Medicare urgent care clinics. No matter where you live within the federal electorate of Adelaide, you are no more than 20 minutes away from either a doctor who bulk-bills or a Medicare urgent care clinic. We have four of them: one in Gepps Cross, just on the border of my electorate; one in Norwood; one down in Marion, at the southern end of the electorate; and, in the western suburbs, one in Albert Park, towards Port Adelaide. This means my entire electorate is surrounded by urgent care clinics—north, west, east and south—which is really good for those who require after-hours treatment et cetera.

The impact is already clear. Since the network commenced in 2023, South Australian clinics have delivered more than 172,000 fully bulk-billed visits. That means more than 172,000 occasions when individuals and families have been able to receive urgent medical care without needing to attend an emergency department or a public hospital and without needing to face out-of-pocket costs. This is important for parents whose child develops a fever at odd hours, for workers who suffer minor injuries and for older Australians needing urgent care. These clinics provide peace of mind, they provide convenience and they provide access.

Health care is ultimately about people, and behind every statistic is a story—a parent who can afford to take their child to a GP, an older Australian managing their health with confidence, a family avoiding a costly emergency-department visit and a healthcare professional able to focus on treating patients, rather than navigating administrative uncertainty. That is why this legislation really matters. It's not merely about creating administrative frameworks; it's about changing the system and strengthening the foundations of one of the most important necessities, and that is health care. It's about ensuring incentive programs are transparent, effective, accountable and sustainable. It's also about ensuring Australians continue to receive the health care that they deserve.

The bill also includes an important symbolic change. It amends the title of Health Insurance Act 1973 and renames it the Medicare act, a much more appropriate title. That is fitting because, for Australians, Medicare is far more than just a program; it is an institution, and it is a promise—a promise that health care will be there when people need it. It's a promise that quality care should never depend on the size of someone's bank account. This bill strengthens that promise. It strengthens bulk-billing, it strengthens primary care, it strengthens accountability and it strengthens Medicare itself. At a time when Australians are concerned about the cost of living, the government is ensuring that access to a doctor remains affordable. As I said, it's a necessity.

A strong Medicare system is one of the greatest expressions of who we are as Australians. It says that health care should never be a privilege reserved for a few but be a right available to every single Australian, regardless of their postcode and regardless of what their income is. The bill strengthens that principle, strengthens Medicare and ensures that future generations can continue to access the quality, affordable health care that they deserve.

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

It's easy to take the Medicare card for granted. All Australians above 15 years of age can obtain a card of their own, and despite the system not being perfect it really is the passport to the world's best universal healthcare system. Medicare is uniquely Australian and something that, as a nation, we can be very proud of. The antecedent of Medicare is Medibank, which was the promise of a previous member for Werriwa in 1972, and our community still values health above anything else.

Prior to Medibank and Medicare, I remember the conversations around the table about whether my parents could afford to take both or one of their kids to the doctor, as well as the home remedies that were tried and often failed before a doctor's visit was planned. My parents and our country were excited for Medibank; there would be no more bankruptcy to stay healthy. The disdain for the universal healthcare system from those opposite was established from the outset, as far back as 1975. When Malcolm Fraser took office, Medibank was changed any number of times to the point that it eventually, in 1981, ceased to exist at all, except in the guise of Medibank Private.

Thankfully, the return of Labor under Bob Hawke saw the reinstatement of Medibank—this time in the form of Medicare—in 1984. And, as they say, the rest is history. Forty-two years after Bob Hawke reinstated it, Medicare has continued to be the envy of the rest of the world. Interestingly, despite constant attacks by those opposite, Medicare has never been stronger or more supported by the Australian public. Indeed, Medicare and the PBS are among the most trusted federal public services in the country.

Medicare is central to Labor's philosophy and DNA. We will always defend it and strengthen it. To that end, the matter before us today is yet another step in the Medicare story. The Health Insurance Amendment (Incentive Payments and Other Measures) Bill 2026 establishes a clear legislative framework for the Commonwealth primary care incentive payment programs, including the Medicare Bulk Billing Practice Incentive Program. It does this while leaving operational detail to the incentive payment programs' rules.

As at present, these programs lack a clear legislative basis, which impacts their effective administration, including robust processes to enforce compliance and protect program integrity. By introducing these amendments, the government will strengthen the way it provides financial incentives to primary care providers and ensure the integrity of existing and future incentive programs. At its heart, this bill supports the Albanese Labor government's $8.5 billion commitment to expand bulk-billing for all Australians, which includes the incentive programs for practices that bulk-bill every patient. The success of this initiative has been nothing short of phenomenal.

The latest quarterly bulk-billing data shows the national bulk-billing rate at 81.9 per cent for the January to March quarter. This is a 4.6 percentage point increase on the same period last year. Further, as a result of this initiative, there are more than 3,800 bulk-billing practices around the country. Previously, more than 1,400 of these were mixed billing practices. The upshot of this means that approximately 97 per cent of the population is now within a 20-minute drive of a bulk-billing practice. Across New South Wales, the bulk-billing rates stand at 85.4 per cent, which is up four percentage points, but in Werriwa the numbers are even better. There are 32 bulk-billing practices in Werriwa, which is an increase of seven. This means that well over 90 per cent of all GP consultations in Werriwa are bulk-billed.

Personally, I find it extremely gratifying to travel through the electorate and see the distinctive green-and-gold Medicare bulk-billing signs which identify a fully bulk-billing practice. Complementing this huge lift in bulk-billing is the additional number of Medicare urgent care clinics across the country. Since the urgent care clinic network commenced in 2023, there have been more than 623,000 bulk-billed visits in New South Wales. In Werriwa, the newly opened urgent care clinic in Austral has seen thousands of patients, which both helps those who need to see a GP and takes the pressure off our stretched public hospitals.

I received feedback over the last weekend about how well the Austral urgent care clinic is working. Chris is a constituent who has used the Austral clinic and who wrote to me with the following feedback: 'I used the Austral urgent care clinic around six weeks ago as I had a severe cut to my finger—not enough for hospital but more than I could take care of myself. My local GP was booked out and may not have been able to treat it even if they weren't. The Austral clinic was excellent in treating me—short wait time, great staff and a successfully stitched finger. Follow-up care was provided by my GP clinic. I'm writing to give feedback that these urgent care clinics are a great initiative and, at least for me anecdotally, provide a great service to the community. I'm happy that Labor put forward these clinics and will support them going forward, and that's a solid win for this policy and our government in my eyes.'

The upshot of the Medicare incentive program is that our universal healthcare system has never been stronger or more popular. Time today does not permit me to speak on the other parts of our health system, particularly the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and this government's support for our public hospitals across the country, but suffice it to say that, along with the pillar of bulk-billing, the picture looks wonderful. Australians look to their government and especially this parliament to support them with the services and programs they need. Most of these, perhaps none is more dear to Australia's heart than Medicare and bulk-billing. The bill supports the provision of this most important program. It should be noted that the Medicare incentive program also supports our primary healthcare professionals, most notably GPs. After years of neglect, the incentive program ensures that our GPs are appropriately remunerated for their skill and dedication. I would like to give a shout-out to all the GPs in my electorate who've embraced the incentive program and, in doing so, are now supporting bulk-billing.

To stand here as a member for Werriwa to speak about this bill and Medicare is a privilege. The cost-of-living pressures in the electorate are real, but the Medicare incentive program makes a real difference to thousands in my electorate, and it means they don't have to think twice about seeing their GP if they're unwell. I commend the bill to the House and thank the minister for bringing it forward.

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

I thank the member for Werriwa for her contribution and for her really strong support for everything we're doing to make Medicare stronger and make medicines cheaper. I thank all members for their contributions to the debate on this bill. As the member for Werriwa said, Medicare is the very best of Australia. It allows Australians to receive high-quality health care regardless of their bank balance, and that was the mission that Bob Hawke had in mind. The Albanese government is strengthening Medicare, the heart of universal health care, to make it easier for Australians to see a GP for free.

The Health Insurance Amendment (Incentive Payments and Other Measures) Bill 2026 establishes for the first time a clear and enduring legislative framework for Commonwealth primary care incentive payment programs. These programs are a central part of how the government supports access, affordability and quality in Australia's primary healthcare system, including, particularly, in rural and regional communities. Primary care incentive programs represent more than $1.4 billion of annual government investment, yet a number of significant programs currently operate without a dedicated legislative scheme tailored to their establishment, administration, compliance and review. The bill addresses that gap by inserting a new part into the Health Insurance Act 1973, creating a consistent statutory basis for incentive payment programs while allowing detailed program settings to be dealt with in rules. That approach gives providers and the government greater certainty while preserving the flexibility needed to keep program settings up to date as health system needs evolve. Importantly, the bill does not change the underlying policy settings of existing programs. It does not alter substantive eligibility criteria or payment amounts, and existing participants are intended to transition into the new framework without needing to reapply.

The bill also supports efficient, high-volume administration by enabling specific administrative action to be undertaken with the assistance of computer programs—subject, of course, to oversight, transparency, substituted decision safeguards and review rights. Importantly, this bill provides stability so patients can continue to benefit from the outcomes of these programs and strengthened access to primary care.

A further important feature of the bill is the amendment of the short title of the Health Insurance Act 1973 to the Medicare Act, with a transition period to support the consequential amendments and system changes that are required across Commonwealth, state and territory frameworks.

This is a foundational reform that will strengthen the administration, the integrity and the sustainability of Medicare incentive payment programs and help ensure that government investment in primary care is delivered effectively. I commend the bill to the House.

Milton Dick (Speaker) | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is that the amendment moved by the honourable member for Lindsay be agreed to.