Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for Health) Share this | Hansard source

I thank members for their contributions to the debate on this bill, the Health Insurance (Approved Pathology Specimen Collection Centres) Tax Amendment Bill 2018. This bill amends the Health Insurance (Approved Pathology Specimen Collection Centres) Tax Act 2000 to increase flexibility by enabling the tax payable on the grant of an approval of an Approved (specimen) Collection Centre, ACC, to be calculated for approvals granted for periods longer than one year.

The bill will amend tax payable on the grant of an approval of an ACC from $1,000 paid annually to $2,000 paid two yearly. The rate of the tax has not been changed since the act was enacted in 1999. Careful consideration was given for no increase to the tax so as to ensure that smaller ACCs were not negatively impacted.

The changes to the tax and the proposed corresponding amendment to the Health Insurance (Eligible Collection Centres) Approval Principles 2010 to extend approvals from one year to two years will be welcomed by the sector as they assist in reducing operational and administrative burden. There are a number of parallel projects that support the development and implementation of the government's direction for pathology that include administrative changes by automating and streamlining processes to reduce regulatory burden for pathology providers. The department has been engaging with, and will continue to engage with, key stakeholders prior to 1 July 2018 to advise of the amendment to the tax and the extension of the time frame for new and renewed ACC applications, including reaffirming the key elements of the measures announced in the 2017-18 budget.

In summary, this bill will amend the tax payable on the grant of an approval for an ACC from $1,000 annually to $2,000 to be paid two yearly. This amendment is an essential component to the budget measure as part of streamlining processes and reducing the administrative burden for pathology collection centres. I thank all of those involved from Pathology Australia, including the CEO, Liesel Wett, the department and my office. I commend this bill to the House.

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