Anthony Chisholm (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Education) Share this | Hansard source

Australia's universal healthcare system, Medicare, provides free and subsidised access for all Australians to most healthcare services. The government is committed to strengthening Medicare by improving the compliance framework that ensures the integrity of Medicare. The Health Insurance Amendment (Professional Services Review Scheme No. 2) Bill 2023 builds on the health insurance amendment act 2023, which implemented priority amendments in response to the Independent Review of Medicare Integrity and Compliance undertaken by Mr Pradeep Phillip, known as the Phillip review. The Phillip review was commissioned by the government in November 2023 to respond to concerns about the operation of the Medicare system. The Phillip review recommended a comprehensive review of legislation relating to Medicare to ensure it is fit for purpose.

This bill will strengthen the operation of the Professional Services Review, known as the PSR, which will protect the integrity of Medicare. The PSR is an independent agency established under the Health Insurance Act 1973 and is responsible for protecting the integrity of the Medicare program by investigating whether a person is engaged in appropriate practice. The investigation occurs by review undertaken by the director or by committees made up of health professional peers of the person under review. The bill will align requirements for the qualifications of committee members with a definition of 'inappropriate practice' and will clarify how these requirements should be applied. This will ensure that committees can be properly established for a practitioner with an unusual combination of specialities or where the practitioner is providing services in a different field from their formal specialist qualifications.

The bill will also make several other amendments to clarify and improve the administration of the PSR scheme. Reducing ambiguity will ensure that a person under review is aware of how the PSR scheme should apply as well as enable the PSR to perform its role more effectively. The PSR must be able to work efficiently to achieve its objective to protect patients, the community and the Commonwealth from the risks and costs of inappropriate practice. This is essential to ensure that Commonwealth resources are directed to necessary health services and to ensure that Medicare remains sustainable. By supporting the integrity of Medicare, this bill will ultimately benefit all Australians. I acknowledge senators for their contribution to debate on this bill.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.