Jordon Steele-John (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I'm pleased to speak to the Health Insurance (Pathology) (Fees) (Repeal) Bill 2025. I lead my contribution by sharing that the Greens will be supporting this bill, as this bill will relieve some of the pressure that the pathology sector is currently experiencing. It will remove some small administrative fees—an important step, as the health portfolio charging review identified that administration fees had not been reviewed since they were initially introduced and that the fees cost more than the actual administrative cost of approving the relevant applications. However, this bill does not fully address the issues threatening bulk-billing of pathology services in Australia.

One of the things we can be so proud of in this country is that almost all pathology services are bulk-billed. Universal access is something that is much treasured by our community, and it must be maintained. I have spoken to pathologists across the country, and it is clear they are struggling to continue to provide bulk-billed services. This is because their Medicare rebate has been subject to a decade-long indexation freeze. Pathologists are raising the alarm. They couldn't be clearer that we have travelled far down the slippery slope towards an out-of-pocket cost system to access pathology services. Given the key role that pathology plays in diagnosis, in monitoring and in the management of health conditions, it is essential that pathology remains a bulk-billed service.

We are seeing people skipping regular appointments, prioritising their kids' appointments over their own health or not following up on test results because going to the doctor is too expensive. It is disgraceful that, in a cost-of-living crisis, when people are choosing between going to the doctor, paying rent and putting food on the table, the government think that this bill is enough to declare mission accomplished, enough to pat themselves on the back this evening for a good day's work. The Greens are pleased to see the government adopt part of our plan to incentivise bulk-billing more broadly, but that will not be enough alone. The RACGP surveyed 283 GPs in March, and 66 per cent said they would not change their bulk-billing rates at all as a result of the changes to bulk-billing incentives, while only six per cent said they would switch to fully bulk-billed.

The RACGP has been calling for a raise of the rebate for longer GP appointments in addition to bulk-billing incentive changes, saying this move would 'halve the out-of-pocket costs' for people who are not being bulk-billed. Yet this government has failed to support our community to access longer appointments. People with chronic illnesses, women, people with intellectual disabilities and so many other cohorts of people in our community benefit from increased access to longer appointments, and the changes put forward by this government are not going to make this happen. If the government were serious about cost-of-living relief, they would implement the entirety of the Greens plan to make sure everyone could see a GP for free, including raising rebates for appointments over 20 minutes.

In conclusion, the Greens will be supporting this bill, but we would like to see the government take serious action on affordable health care by keeping pathology bulk-billed and ensuring everyone can see the GP for free.