Pat Conaghan (Cowper, National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Social Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Health Legislation Amendment (Removal of Requirement for a Collaborative Arrangement) Bill 2024 amends the National Health Act 1953 and the Health Insurance Act 1973 to remove the legislated requirement for a collaborative arrangement between an eligible nurse practitioner or an eligible midwife and a medical practitioner when prescribing Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme—PBS—medicines or providing services under Medicare.

The coalition supports the removal of the legislated requirement for a collaborative agreement, which will allow nurse practitioners and eligible midwives to prescribe PBS medicines or provide services under Medicare within their trained scope of practice without requiring a doctor to tick off. We recognise that our nurse practitioners and midwives are proficient professionals who deliver high-quality care to patients within their scope of practice. Australian nurse practitioners have completed prescribed education at a masters level and extensive postgraduate clinical experience. They are trained to provide complete episodes of health care using advanced nursing models of care. It makes sense that they should be able to provide that care within their scope of practice without collaborative arrangements being required.

The removal of this requirement will enable eligible midwives and nurse practitioners to support more Australians who require timely access to critical health care. Importantly, we know that nurse practitioners and midwives already provide important support to diverse groups, including Australians in aged care, First Nations people and Australians with disabilities, and this legislation will further support them to do so.

This legislation has come at a critical time. Our health care is under significant pressure. It has become much harder and more expensive for Australians to see a GP. Bulk-billing is collapsing, and ramping is reaching record levels across the country as hospitals' EDs are overrun. Workforce shortages in our care sectors have also reached crisis point. This makes it more important than ever that Australians are able to access critical primary care and advice. The fact that this legislation removes a barrier to Australians' primary care access is both timely and critical.

This will provide important support for patients in need of better access to primary care, particularly in rural and remote areas, where we know this access is particularly challenging. Approximately 30 per cent of Australian nurse practitioners work in rural and remote areas in a full-time or sessional capacity, providing much-needed assistance to our rural and regional Australians. We know that it is communities in the bush who are being impacted the most by the current challenges facing our healthcare system. This current climate, with our healthcare system under serious pressure, means we must be supporting health professionals to operate at the top of their ability so that we may maximise all available resources. This move has been widely welcomed by many health bodies, including nursing groups, regional health groups and patient advocacy groups.

So, the coalition supports this legislation and the way it will remove a barrier to Australians' primary care access. However, if the Albanese government wants to prove they are truly committed to ensuring that Australians have access to timely and affordable health care then they must urgently act on the current workforce crisis. Workforce shortages are putting significant pressure on the entire healthcare system. It is these shortages that are underpinning all the key challenges Australians face currently in accessing critical health care. And it's not just the healthcare system. Our aged care and disability care sectors are also crying out for urgent support for the workforce.

The coalition has been calling on the government for over a year now to implement a national workforce strategy for the entire care sector. The Albanese government must stop ignoring this critical issue and start pursuing real and comprehensive action to tackle the nationwide workforce crisis. But, once again, we understand that in a time of severe workforce shortages all health professionals should be operating at their full scope of practice so that we are maximising the use of all available resources to support Australians with their healthcare needs.

So, we will support this bill. However, I will put on the record that the coalition will continue to call on the government to implement an urgent and comprehensive national workforce strategy until they start taking real action on this critical issue.

Debate adjourned.