David Pocock (ACT, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Health and Ageing, Senator McAllister. Minister, the ACT has a dire shortage of GPs. We have fewer GPs per capita than even some outer regional areas in Australia. We constantly have the lowest bulk-billing rate in the country, by a long margin, and the ACT government projects it will need at least 33 additional graduate doctors to staff our hospitals by 2041. Given all this, why is it that the ANU has missed out on being allocated additional Commonwealth supported places for the ACT's only medical school?

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

Thanks very much for your question, Senator Pocock. I think you will know, from previous discussions in this place, that the government understands the significance of the challenge that we face in the ACT in ensuring that ACT residents have access to health care. We do recognise that the bulk-billing rate in the ACT is significantly lower than in other parts of the country, and it's why we are making the arrangements that we are to expand bulk-billing availability in the ACT. You will know, I think, that an expression of interest is open to establish three new bulk-billed GP clinics for Canberra to deliver more doctors and more bulk-billing practices to Canberra. We are of course very focused on workforce, and the government has made significant investments to generate not just more GPs but more nurses and more personnel able to support the health needs of Australians. We will continue to work across the country to ensure that we have the personnel available to support Australians when they need it.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Pocock, first supplementary?

David Pocock (ACT, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm still not sure why the ACT didn't get some Commonwealth supported places. If you look at Tasmania, another small jurisdiction that also really struggles when it comes to GP shortages and bulk-billing—rather than make UTAS apply for a greater share of Commonwealth support places for their medical school, Labor simply made an election commitment of 20 additional Commonwealth supported places at UTAS. Why will the government give Tasmania more Commonwealth supported places in medicine but not the ACT?

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

I do have some Tasmanian colleagues suggesting that we should perhaps not see it as a competition between places, but of course we acknowledge that it is important to raise availability and access to health care right across the country. It's why we are making the largest ever investment in Medicare. We recognise that, under the previous government, bulk-billing was in freefall and people's access to Medicare was compromised by the cuts that were made by that government—by their determination to remove resources from our health system. We back public health care. We back the health needs of Australians, and I tell you what: Australians know who is on their side when it comes to health. We will continue to invest in Medicare and continue to expand access to Medicare for all Australians.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Pocock, second supplementary?

David Pocock (ACT, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Well, Canberrans are asking whether the government is on our side. I welcome the additional CSPs for the medical school in Tasmania. They desperately need them, as do we here in Canberra. Yet, when you allocate 100 additional ones—on top of your 20 to Tasmania—as an election commitment, the place with the lowest GP-to-population ratio and the lowest bulk-billing rate misses out. Please, can you explain to Canberrans why we've missed out?

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

I can inform the senator that this was a highly competitive and robust process, and it is the case that not all applications could receive Commonwealth supported places and funding. The selection was based on recommendations from a selection advisory committee. This had representatives from the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, the Department of Education, the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. A further 50 commencing medical CSPs will be allocated through a second grant round, which will open in 2026. I would say to the senator, more generally, that we are determined to repair the damage that was done in the period when those opposite governed. We saw a significant deterioration in the overall capacity of the health system, and we are determined to repair it.