Emma McBride (Dobell, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Before the introduction of Medicare, the leading cause of personal bankruptcy in Australia was unpaid medical bills. One in seven Australians at the time had no medical coverage. That's why Gough Whitlam introduced Medibank, which at the time was strongly opposed and eventually scrapped by the Liberals before being reintroduced as Medicare under Bob Hawke.

In the 40 years since, Australians have largely had access to affordable and timely health care. But over the last decade, under the former Liberal government, we saw Medicare come under attack. When the now Leader of the Opposition was the health minister in a Liberal government he froze the bulk-billing incentive for six long years. When we came to government, bulk-billing was in freefall. Since then, we've been working to strengthen Medicare.

Our record $3.5 billion investment to triple the bulk-billing incentive has seen bulk-billing rates not only steady but begin to rise. Across the country we're seeing five million more GP visits bulk-billed, and in my community on the Central Coast of New South Wales we have seen a 7.7 per cent increase in bulk-billing, with 77.4 per cent of all visits now bulk-billed in Dobell.

As a pharmacist, I also know how important affordable medicines are. Labor introduced the PBS, and now we've made medicines more affordable through 60-day prescriptions and by freezing the maximum PBS co-payment. We've also opened two Medicare urgent care clinics on the Central Coast, including the Lake Haven Medicare Urgent Care Clinic, which I visited with Minister Butler last week. This clinic has seen more than 10,000 visits since opening in December last year. It provides fully bulk-billed care over extended hours for urgent but not life-threatening conditions, seven days a week.

The response to this clinic from my community has been really heartening. Marion from Warnervale said:

After experiencing a deep cut on my hand, I sought treatment at the Medicare Urgent Care Clinic at Lake Haven. From reception through to treatment, the care I received was brilliant. I am grateful to have had access to professional and prompt care so close to home.

Marion's experience has been reflected by almost 10,000 other locals on the Central Coast. We have seen at the UCCs that one in three visits are made by children under 15 and more than one-quarter are presenting on weekends, showing this is a trusted alternative to the emergency department for local families.

And now we're putting mental health at the heart of Medicare. Acknowledging today is World Mental Health Day, we're opening a Kids Hub in Tuggerah which will deliver mental health, emotional and developmental support for young children and their families. We've expanded and enhanced Lake Haven headspace and opened a new headspace in my hometown of Wyong, providing support and care across the four key pillars of headspace.

Twenty-year-old Lily detailed her headspace journey, saying:

I first visited headspace in 2019 after opening up to my dad about how I'd been feeling. I confessed that I had been feeling depressed, anxious and engaging in unhelpful coping strategies. I was afraid to ask for help and initially felt like I was a failure.

However, little did I know that by taking that first scary step, it would completely change my life. Five years later and now not only can I say I'm in a much healthier headspace, but I'm also proud to be a member of the headspace Wyong Youth Reference Group.

And yesterday we marked national headspace day.

The two local headspace services in my community are supporting hundreds of local young people like Lily on the northern end of the Central Coast of New South Wales. Now, in adult mental health, our new Tuggerah Medicare mental health centre is offering free walk-in mental health support and care from a multidisciplinary team with wraparound supports, including a social worker, a psychologist and a peer support worker. Nationally we're opening 61 Medicare mental health centres across the country, bringing mental health into the heart of Medicare and providing free walk-in support and care closer to home for people when they need it most. And we recently opened a new veteran and family hub in Wyong, which offers connection and support to more than 8,000 veterans on the Central Coast and their families.

From physical health to mental health, we're strengthening Medicare to deliver better and more affordable health care for everyone on the Central Coast and across the country. Labor is the party that created Medicare and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. We have always fought for Medicare and universal health care, despite attempts from the other side to try to dismantle it, and we always will.