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

In summary, the Health Insurance Amendment (Bonded Medical Programs) Reform Bill 2019 is one of the targeted, strategic responses under the Stronger Rural Health Strategy, which responds to the challenge of ensuring primary health care is accessible and available to all Australians no matter where they live. Only last week I was on the Eyre Peninsula and the Yorke Peninsula talking with local communities about access to doctors, and I realise how fundamentally important this is. This bill is part of a program to ensure that more Australians have access to medical services no matter where they are.

Under the strategy, a total of $20.2 million was committed to reform the bonded medical programs. The bonded medical programs are a long-term investment in the health workforce by the Australian government. These schemes are designed to address the doctor shortage across regional, rural and remote Australia and in areas of workforce shortage. Participants receive a place in a medical course at an Australian university in return for a commitment to work in underserviced areas.

The bill introduces a statutory scheme, known as the Bonded Medical Program, to come into effect from 1 January 2020. The statutory scheme consolidates the existing Bonded Medical Places and Bonded Medical Rural Scholarship schemes. It brings these schemes under a single legislative framework to progress the government's long-term view to move towards a single bonded medical scheme—simple, elegant, understandable. The statutory scheme is clearer about the conditions applied under the program and provides greater flexibility for participants to complete their return-of-service obligation. Participants in the statutory scheme will continue to have right of internal review and now will be able to seek review of administrative decisions by the AAT. From 1 January 2020, new participants will enter the program under the new statutory scheme and existing participants will be able to opt in.

The statutory arrangements will eventually replace the myriad complex contractual arrangements currently in place with individual participants. In effect, it is an administrative archaeological dig which is being replaced with a single statutory scheme. Statutory provisions will ensure that existing and future participants have access to the same suite of options and opportunities going forward.

These improvements to the program will encourage doctors to stay working in the community where they are undertaking their return-of-service obligations beyond their obligations and ensure that that there are more fully qualified Australian-trained doctors working in regional, remote and rural Australia and in areas of workforce shortage. Perhaps just as importantly, the reforms will better target the future bonded workforce to locations of need as demographic and workforce demands change over time.

The scheme will enable collection of data for reporting and effective evaluation of the program. At this stage it is too early to evaluate the program's success; however, it is critical that the government, the medical profession and the Australian public have access to robust evaluation of the program outcomes to inform policy decisions into the future. Without these changes, the program will become increasingly outdated, with growing frustration experienced by participants and the key stakeholder groups that support them. Therefore, steps to modernise the program are required.

It's the government's long-term view to rationalise the Bonded Medical Program to a single bonded medical scheme once all existing schemes have expired. It is envisaged that this will occur around 2035, when all participants under the existing schemes have completed their obligations under the program.

I thank members for their contributions to the debate on this bill. I note the presence in the House of the member for Macarthur, and I would be happy, if he wishes to speak, to make an exception to allow that to occur.

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