Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Tyrrell, this government does care about access to primary care, and we have put our money where our mouth is through the investments that we are making in primary health care, particularly in bulk-billing. I've been really pleased to report to this Senate over many months the impact that that investment is having—seeing bulk-billing rates rise across our communities. This is really pleasing. Since October 2023 the bulk-billing rate in Tasmania has changed by 6.3 percentage points. That is very, very significant for your community. In Tasmania, 138,000 people have access to Medicare urgent care clinics. These are very significant investments, and they go to the chronic health conditions that we understand are impacting on Australian communities.