Jana Stewart (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Health and Aged Care, Senator Gallagher. Medicare was established 40 years ago by the Hawke Labor government. Since 1984, bulk-billing has delivered affordable health care for all Australians. Can the minister please outline what the Albanese Labor government is doing to strengthen Medicare and how these initiatives are providing cost-of-living relief and making it easier for Australians to see a doctor?

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Stewart for the question on this really important issue which I know she cares deeply about, which is access to affordable health care for all Australians. In the budget, we introduced the second biggest increase to the Medicare rebate across the board in the last 30 years. The biggest increase to the Medicare rebate in the last 30 years was last year. So, over just two years, we have increased the Medicare rebate by twice as much as those opposite managed in nine years. That's because we care about making sure that people can afford to go and access health care in the community, which is primarily through their general practitioner.

At the time of the last election, the health minister, Mark Butler, said general practice was in 'the most parlous state in the 40-year history of Medicare'. Bulk-billing was falling off a cliff because of a six-year freeze on Medicare rebates, which is why we tripled the bulk-billing incentive from 1 November last year in the largest investment in bulk-billing in the history of Medicare. In the seven months since we tripled that investment we have seen a turnaround in bulk-billing, with a national increase of 3.4 percentage points, from 75.6 per cent of all GP visits bulk-billed in October to 79 per cent in May. That translates to an estimated two million additional visits of Australians to their GP. Bulk-billing has increased in every state and territory. In Tasmania, it's up over eight per cent. In the ACT, it's up 5½ per cent. In South Australia, it's up five per cent. In the Northern Territory, it's up 4.8 per cent. In WA, it's up 4.2 per cent. In Queensland, it's up 3.4 per cent. In Victoria, it's up three per cent. In New South Wales it's up 2.7 per cent. This shows that our investments are working. (Time expired)

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Stewart, first supplementary?

Jana Stewart (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Minister. That's a very timely reminder that only Labor can be trusted with Medicare. The government designed a budget that put downward pressure on inflation.

Sarah Henderson (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mediscare!

Honourable senators interjecting—

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Henderson, order. Order across the chamber! Minister Watt, order! Senator Ayres, when I call order, it applies to you. Senator Henderson, you're not in a debate with me. Order! Senator Stewart, I'm going to invite you to begin your question again and reset the clock.

Jana Stewart (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The government designed a budget that put downward pressure on inflation while providing cost-of-living relief to all Australians. Can the minister please update the Senate on how the government's policies to make medicines cheaper are providing cost-of-living relief that Australians need now?

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Stewart for another great question. We're building on our investments in Medicare, which is all about people being able to see their GP and have Medicare support them while they do that—so get to Medicare without out-of-pocket expenses.

Under our government we've also made a number of reforms to make medicines cheaper. Under our government people now pay no more than $31.60 for medicines on the PBS, and in our first three months of governing we slashed the maximum amount that millions of pensioners would pay for their medicines each year by 25 per cent. In our first 12 months, we delivered the biggest cut to the price of medicines in the 75-year history of the PBS. So, the biggest investments in Medicare, biggest investment in the PBS, and we're seeing now that people are getting access to cheaper medicines, they're getting access to 60-day supply where it's needed, and in this budget we have also made sure that PBS medicines remain affordable.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Stewart, second supplementary?

Jana Stewart (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I know that cheaper medicines are making a real difference, especially for those who have chronic illnesses. The budget also included additional funding for more Medicare urgent care clinics across the country. How are the Medicare urgent care clinics helping Australians to access affordable urgent care when they need it?

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you very much, Senator Stewart, for that supplementary. We have opened 58 Medicare urgent care clinics across Australia. They're now open and seeing patients. Australians can walk in and receive urgent care quickly and for free.

There have been over 494,000 visits to Medicare UCCs across Australia since they opened. We know that one in four visits are from someone aged under 15, over one in three have been outside of regular working hours, and a half of all of those presentations were with people who said that they would otherwise have gone to a hospital emergency department. So not only are people being seen, not only is it free, not only can they walk in and get their kids seen out of hours, we're also making sure that we're taking pressure off busy emergency departments. So Medicare, PBS and Medicare urgent care clinics really show how importantly we regard health—(Time expired.)