The one-million mark for 1800MEDICARE was achieved just a week or so ago. This is an important service that our government has created—1800MEDICARE. Since January, more than 30,000 Tasmanians have used 1800MEDICARE for free health information and advice. This is a free, 24-hour service that is connecting Tasmanians with registered nurses who can provide expert health advice and help people find the most appropriate care for their needs. It is nationwide, as I said, but for Tasmanians, particularly constituents in my electorate who are living in regional and rural communities, this service is really making a difference.

Between 1 January and 27 September, more than 8,300 callers in Tasmania living in rural or remote areas contacted this service, providing them with accessible health care after hours when they haven't had it before. Importantly, nurses and GPS through 1800MEDICARE have also helped divert approximately 3½ thousand Tasmanians from unnecessary emergency department visits or calls to triple zero. We had our Premier out just this week, a Liberal premier, with a campaign around how one in five triple zero calls are not necessary and are not requiring an ambulance, and they are asking people to call 1800MEDICARE. This is a state Liberal premier promoting 1800MEDICARE as a valuable service for Tasmanians. It's clearly assisting and impacting and supporting the Tasmanian health system, helping people to navigate their care while keeping the emergency services genuinely for the people who need them for an emergency.

They are obviously complemented by our urgent care clinics that are also diverting people away from emergency departments and unnecessary visits to those. Of course, that network of eight in Tasmania has now provided over 200,000 free visits for Tasmanians with no out-of-pocket expenses. As I said, they are free. In my electorate of Franklin, our urgent care clinic at Kingston, which only opened earlier this year, is doing incredibly well. We're rapidly approaching now 10,000 visits to that urgent care centre in my electorate.

We also have, of course, more constituents being fully bulk-billed right across Tasmania, right across the state. I recently heard from a constituent, Mary, about how life-changing it had been when her local GP started bulk-billing her. She said that this meant she didn't hesitate to go to the doctor when she needed to get a scan done. This has of course improved her overall health and wellbeing.

Our cheaper medicines policy is also having a big impact on the lives of people in Tasmania, and Tasmanians have now saved $74 million through our cheaper medicines policy.

As the local member, hearing from constituents the difference that having 1800MEDICARE, the urgent care clinics and the cheaper medicines policy alongside the bulk-billing is making to them really matters. It makes this job worthwhile.