Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Very disturbing research was released over the course of the weekend with respect to the falling number of GP medical clinics offering bulk-billing to everyday Australians. Over the past 12 months, there has been a staggering fall in the number of GP medical clinics offering bulk-billing. Over the course of 2023, 400 clinics have ceased offering bulk-billing to new adult patients.

During the course of 2023 in my local area of Ipswich in Queensland, the number of GP medical clinics offering bulk-billing to new adult patients for a standard medical consultation during business hours fell from 25 to 16. Reflect on that: in my local region, the Greater Ipswich region in Queensland, there has been a fall of 36 per cent during the course of 2023 in the number of medical clinics offering bulk-billing. Disturbingly, this report now indicates that 1.2 million Australians are either not going to see their GP when they should or they are deferring GP visits because of the cost-of-living crisis. Ipswich residents should not have to make a choice, during this Albanese cost-of-living crisis, between seeing their GP and putting food on the table for their family.