Michelle Ananda-Rajah (Higgins, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Mallee for moving this important motion. Health, as you know, is a topic close to my heart, and I am interested in pathways for more generalist doctors, because I, too, was a generalist doctor. I worked as a medical doctor specialising in general medicine. I was essentially what is called a specialist generalist, which means, like GPs throughout this country, I saw everything that came through the door—and I mean everything. I, too, have had the privilege during my training and my career to work in many regional towns throughout this country, from Rocky to Armidale, Warrnambool, Orange, Coffs Harbour, Lismore, Rockingham, Bunbury, Burnie—I could go on and on. But every major hospital where I have worked in a metropolitan area has always had deep connections into rural and regional communities, because these were our referral pathways, and we were there also to take on calls and support our GPs in those regions as well as the few specialist doctors out there. It is an enduring regret of mine that I didn't end up in rural or regional medicine, because I really loved it when I was a trainee doctor and medical student. I just ended up getting seduced by metropolitan big-hospital frenetic medicine, and I really wasn't deliberative enough when I was making the decision about where to train and what to specialise in. And I didn't have any mentors at the time who could point me in the right direction.

The time I spent in regional communities was incredibly rewarding. It was like nothing I have ever experienced in the city, and I do mean that. You were stopped at supermarkets and at the church. People were caring, they were grateful to have a medical student or doctor working in their town, and they were interested in your wellbeing. I still remember a GP I worked with who provided a bike to help me get from my accommodation to the practice. Everyone in the clinic knew I had this bicycle and would wonder whether it was okay and whether I needed anything more. The medicine was rewarding, as was the gratitude, which came in bucketloads, and it was genuine.

So what we are doing to support our rural and regional communities? By and large, patients want to see a doctor, and they would like to have a bulk-billing doctor.

To that end we are opening urgent care clinics right around the country. We have already opened 78, with more to come, and some of these are in regional towns such as Albury, Shepparton, Bendigo, Ballarat, Rocky, Broome, Mount Gambier, Tamworth, Toowoomba, Ali Curung in the Northern Territory, Bunbury and Dapto in New South Wales. We have invested $1.9 billion in programs to boost the workforce, and this is already yielding benefits. Last year we saw an uplift in the number of people registering to practice as new doctors. In 2022-23 there were 8,356. In 2023-24 that number has gone up to 9,490. Moreover, we're seeing an increase, a 25 per cent uplift, in the number of doctors who want to become GPs. That is news to shout from the rooftops. We had 1,504 juniors doctors train as GPs, and in 2024-25 we're seeing an increase of nearly 250 on top of that, which is fantastic. In addition we're seeing more of those doctors spend more time in regional areas. Half of those junior doctors who are going through the GP training program will spend at least 12 months in the regions so they can get a taste of what I had back in the day.

In addition we have reduced HELP or waived it entirely for GP registrars, meaning trainees, who go into general practice and work in the regions as well as for nurse practitioners, and the further out you go—the more remote, in other words—the more debt we will waive. In some circumstances the Commonwealth will actually pay 100 per cent of your HELP debt, which could be up to $70,000 for a doctor and $20,000 for a nurse practitioner. That is really good news. We've also seen an uplift in the amount of bulk-billing throughout the country but particularly in the regions. As you know, in our second budget we tripled the bulk-billing incentive, and that has translated to an additional 2.2 million visits to the GP that are bulk-billed. That is happening right across the country, with people in the regions actually the highest beneficiaries. We know there's more to do, but we are focused on strengthening Medicare, which is the backbone of the healthcare system.

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