Pauline Hanson (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I seek leave to table an explanatory memorandum relating to the bill.

Leave granted.

I table an explanatory memorandum and seek leave to have the second reading speech incorporated in Hansard.

The speech read as follows—

The Human Services Amendment (Photographic Identification and Fraud Prevention) Bill 2019 is intended to achieve exactly what it says, to stop, by including photographic identification, a Medicare card from being used by someone other than the person to whom it is issued.

Presently, there is nothing to stop someone from sharing their Medicare card with anyone who hasn't been issued with one, or is not eligible for a card, in order to source medical services at cost to the Government.

As a result, health providers have no way of verifying that the name on the card is that of the person they are treating.

Eligibility for a Medicare card is available to Australian and New Zealand citizens, as well as visitors from a range of countries with which Australia has reciprocal agreements. These include Belgium, Finland, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Ireland, Slovenia, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Anyone with a permanent resident visa can also get a card if living in Australia. Even if they aren't, they continue to be eligible for Medicare for 12 months after leaving the country.

You may also get a Medicare card if you live in Australia and have applied for a permanent residency visa or permanent protection visa, provided you are on a visa allowing you to work or you are the parent, spouse or child of an Australian citizen or permanent resident, or a New Zealand citizen living here.

There are additional ways of qualifying for the free or subsidised health benefits which a Medicare card provides, depending on the type of visa you have been granted.

As it stands the use of Medicare cards is wide open to rorting, with nothing to stop a person who does not qualify for free or subsidised medical assistance from borrowing a card from a friend. And it does happen.

When was the last time someone checked your ID when you used your Medicare card? It has never happened to me.

The 2018-19 budget for Medicare, or 'medical benefits' as it is labelled, is $24.1 billion, compared to an estimated total expenditure in 2017-18 of $23.3 billion. It is forecast to grow to $25.5 billion in 2019-20, $26.8 billion in 2020-21 and $28.2 billion in 2021-22.

Medicare costs represent a significant part of the country's health budget and this is growing as the population ages.

Possession of a Medicare card has a financial value to whoever uses it, representing free or subsidised health care.

Passports and drivers' licences are protected in part from fraudulent use by having photographic identification of the person to whom they are issued. I see no reason why this should not apply also to Medicare cards.

By providing for this, this Bill will stop fraudulent use and the consequent drain on the health budget.

It will strengthen the integrity of the Medicare Scheme, surely an outcome which everyone would welcome.

I seek leave to continue my remarks.

Leave granted.