Peta Murphy (Dunkley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Health Insurance Amendment (General Practitioners and Quality Assurance) Bill 2020 today because there is nothing more important than equal access to health care. That is a theme of this bill. More importantly, it's not a theme for Labor; it's a heartfelt belief and commitment. I join what my colleagues have said with respect to the specific provisions of this bill, but I want to take this opportunity to raise the issues that have been presented to me by doctors, GPs and surgeries in my electorate of Dunkley. Notwithstanding the view of the government that my electorate of Dunkley is adequately served by GPs, that's not how my community feels and it's certainly not how a number of the GP practices feel. They have contacted me because they cannot recruit enough doctors to meet the need. They cannot adequately service some of the most vulnerable people in my community in Frankston and Carrum Downs because they cannot adequately recruit the GPs that they need. They have made representations to me that it isn't working for them, because of the way the system has been designed and is being operated by this government.

I have written to the Minister for Health in regard to Total Care Medical in Frankston, one of the legendary doctors in Frankston who has given his life to being a GP and serving people, and two GP practices in Carrum Downs, which is one of the more disadvantaged pockets of my electorate. A lot of the time they serve people who are vulnerable, particularly now in the middle of this global health crisis and pandemic. The Ballarto and St Mary medical centres in Carrum Downs contacted me and asked for help. I wrote to the minister on their behalf. I told the minister that they are having difficulty recruiting Australian trained doctors, particularly to the St Mary clinic. They've tried many times as a participant in the AGPT Program but are on a waiting list and have been unsuccessful.

Ms Hatzopoulos, who is the practice manager for these two clinics that serve a quite vulnerable community, informed me that, because the region is not classified as a distribution priority area, the clinics have restricted ability to sponsor doctors through visa programs. She's advertised a position online with Seek. All six applications that came in required visa sponsorship, all of them, so they couldn't fill any positions from this ad. They attempted to participate as an after-hours medical deputising service, but due to program restrictions it wasn't feasible to proceed with the service. I am advised by those clinic that changes to the Medicare Benefits Schedule will mean that the clinic will be financially disadvantaged because of a classification change. Their capacity to bulk-bill has been changed. It will further impact on the clinic's ability to entice doctors and also to retain doctors.

What these clinics—Ballarto, St Mary's and Total Care Medical Group—have asked me to advocate for is a reclassifying of the Frankston and Carrum Downs region as a distribution priority area. The minister has responded to my correspondence and has set out the reasons why the department and the minister are unable to do so, but in doing so also made the observation that they're content that Carrum Downs is adequately serviced by GPs. My community is not content that they're being adequately serviced and the GP centres aren't content that they can recruit the doctors they need to adequately service them. I am raising these matters in the parliament today as another opportunity for the government to look at these vulnerable areas, particularly in this time of a global health crisis, and see what you can do to assist my community.

I also want to take this opportunity, while we're talking about health and access to health, particularly in a time of a global pandemic, to raise an issue that I think everyone knows by now is dear to my heart. I have said it before: Ladies, check your breasts; Men, listen to what your body is telling you and go and see a doctor when you need to. That is even more important now. I have been speaking to the Breast Cancer Network Australia, amongst other services and support providers, who are very concerned that at the moment too many people are putting off going to see their general practitioner for other illnesses and ailments and for other check-ups because of their concerns about COVID-19. Don't do it. Go and get the check-ups that you need. The Breast Cancer Network Australia is there to support any woman who has a diagnosis or believes that they need to get checked. They are there to help you to go through the system, to get the help that you need and, if the worse thing happens and you get a diagnosis of cancer, to then help you go through your treatment. It's a pretty simple message that we want to put forward to people today: do not stop looking after the other aspects of your health just because we are fighting coronavirus. Go and get yourself checked by your GP if you believe there are any other issues that need to be addressed.

Of course, the only way we can ensure that all Australians can heed that advice—no matter what their income is, no matter where they live, no matter whether they were born here or came here, if they're an Indigenous person in a remote community, if they're a wealthy person in Toorak—is that we have a universal health system that benefits those who need it, a universal health system that works. It's more important now more than ever. It's more important that those of us in this place continue—as my colleagues on this side of the chamber will never stop doing—making sure that our precious Medicare system is properly resourced and properly run. Thank you.

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