Malarndirri McCarthy (NT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Indigenous Australians) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I present a revised explanatory memorandum relating to the Health Legislation Amendment (Improved Medicare Integrity and Other Measures) Bill 2025 and move:

That these bills be now read a second time.

I seek leave to have the second reading speeches incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The speech es read as follows—

COMMONWEALTH WORKPLACE PROTECTION ORDER BILL 2024

Every Australian deserves to be safe at work.

In recent years, Commonwealth workers have been increasingly subjected to acts of violence and aggression from members of the public.

It is unacceptable—and it is why the Albanese Government is introducing the Commonwealth Workplace Protection Order Bill 2024.

This Bill will strengthen the Commonwealth's ability to protect Commonwealth employees—particularly those on the frontline—through the creation of enforceable workplace protection orders.

Violence and aggression have devastating impacts on workers and their families—as well as on the experience of Australians trying to access Government services.

Services Australia Security Risk Management Review

The horrific stabbing attack on a staff member at a Services Australia

Service Centre in May 2023 was a devastating reminder that we need to do more to protect workers.

The Government commissioned a Services Australia Security Risk Management Review. The comprehensive review by Mr Graham Ashton made 44 recommendations to deter acts of aggression against Commonwealth workers and to increase safety. The Albanese Government committed_ to implementing every recommendation.

Unfortunately, Commonwealth workers and workplaces continue to face an increasing risk of violence from members of the public. Between July 2023 and July 2024, Services Australia staff faced 1,692 serious incidents.

The Bill responds to this unacceptable situation and implements recommendation 17 of the Ashton Review, by creating a Commonwealth Workplace Protection Order scheme.

Commonwealth Workplace Protection Order Scheme

The Bill establishes a framework to enable an authorised person within a Commonwealth entity to apply to a state or territory Magistrates or Local court, Federal Court or the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (FCFCOA) to issue a Commonwealth Workplace Protection Order (WPO)

in order to protect a Commonwealth worker or workplace from threats of harm and actual harm.

Before issuing a WPO, the court must be satisfied that the respondent has engaged in 'personal violence' in relation to a Commonwealth worker or the workplace, and that there is a real risk that the respondent will engage in further personal violence if the order is not made.

The definition of personal violence includes acts of violence, harassment, intimidation, threats of harm and other harmful non-physical acts, such as verbal abuse and conduct engaged in over the phone.

The court may apply any conditions or restrictions it determines necessary to prevent any future risk of personal violence to a Commonwealth worker or workplace.

Conditions may include no contact with a Commonwealth worker, or no attendance at a Commonwealth workplace.

In circumstances where urgent protection is required, a Commonwealth entity may write to the court to issue an urgent interim WPO to ensure protections are in place as quickly as possible—before a future court date to consider a final order.

The definition of Commonwealth worker covers employees of Commonwealth entities as defined by the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act (PGPA Act) including Services Australia, the Australian Taxation Office, Veterans' Affairs, Australia Post and Ministerial and Electorate Offices. It also includes contractors. This means hardworking security guards, cleaners, and other external staff are also covered.

Commonwealth workplaces include Commonwealth offices, 'pop-up' service centres in shopping centres, Commonwealth service-delivery vehicles, and a Commonwealth worker's residence when working from home.

This protects workers who are working on behalf of the Commonwealth, regardless of where they are.

The Bill allows either party to a WPO to apply to the court to vary or revoke a WPO. The court may vary the conditions in the order as well as the length of time the order is in force. This allows flexibility for changing circumstances of either the Commonwealth entity or the respondent. A respondent may also appeal the decision of the court to issue a WPO through standard appeal processes.

The safety of Commonwealth workers comes first—but we also want to ensure individuals can continue to access necessary Government services.

If an applicant proposes conditions that would prevent the respondent from accessing Commonwealth benefits or services, the applicant is required to provide the court with information about alternative arrangements for how the respondent may access those benefits or services while they are subject to the WPO.

The court is required to consider the personal circumstances of the respondent when determining the conditions attached to a WPO, and ensure that the person still has the ability to access essential public services. In some circumstances, a condition may limit interactions to appointments over the phone. This would allow for ongoing service delivery whilst protecting the physical safety of workers.

The Bill will allow information sharing between Commonwealth and law enforcement agencies to proactively manage risks to other Commonwealth workers or workplaces.

Breaching a condition of a WPO will be a criminal offence punishable by 2 years' imprisonment or 120 penalty units, or both.

This penalty will act as a deterrent for non-compliance with conditions—whilst protecting workers from threatening behaviour for an extended period of time.

The Bill will commence 6 months from Royal Assent to allow time to work with Commonwealth agencies and state and territory jurisdictions on implementation—and to provide clear guidance.

The Bill also requires a review 3 years after commencement.

This Bill builds on the layers of protection the Government has created for Commonwealth workers, including the Criminal Code Amendments (Protecting Commonwealth Frontline Workers) Act 2024. The Act increased penalties for assaults against Commonwealth frontline workers, and implemented recommendation 18 of the Ashton Review.

Violence and aggression towards Commonwealth workers and workplaces is unacceptable.

The Albanese Government values the contributions made by Commonwealth workers—and this Bill is an important development in protecting Commonwealth workers and workplaces across the country.

No one should be afraid to go to work—and every worker deserves to come home safe.

This Bill will protect Commonwealth workers—and ensure members of the community are able to have safe access to Commonwealth Government services.

I thank the Minister for Government Services for his strong support in the development of this Bill.

I commend the Bill to the House.

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HEALTH LEGISLATION AMENDMENT (IMPROVED MEDICARE INTEGRITY AND OTHER MEASURES) BILL 2025

Today, I introduce the Health Legislation Amendment (Improved Medicare Integrity and Other Measures) Bill 2025.

Australia has a world-class health system that offers affordable, high-quality, accessible health care to all Australians. This is due in large part to the various health benefit schemes—including Medicare and its programs—that help Australians pay for the health care they need.

The government is committed to protecting and strengthening Medicare—and part of this is improving the compliance framework that ensures the integrity of these rebates.

The Independent Review of Medicare Integrity and Compliance undertaken by Dr Pradeep Philip, known as the Philip review, was commissioned by the government to respond to concerns about the operation of the Medicare system.

In 2023, the Health Insurance Amendment (Professional Services Review Scheme) Act 2023 and the Health Insurance Amendment (Professional Services Review Scheme No. 2) Act 2023 made priority amendments in response to this review.

This bill implements further improvements responding to Philip review recommendations.

The bill implements a measure announced in the 2024-25 budget: reducing the timeframe during which Medicare claims for bulk-billed services can be made from two years to one year. Claims relating to bulk-billed services can currently be made up to two years after a health service has been provided.

This change will improve payment integrity and reduce the number of incorrect and fraudulently submitted claims. This will have minimal impact on patients and practitioners as most claims are already made within 12 months. There will be discretion to accept claims after that time, to ensure patients are not disadvantaged.

Currently, a range of legislative provisions across health portfolio legislation are creating barriers to effective compliance activities, particularly when it comes to deterring and responding to serious non-compliance and fraud.

The bill responds to these barriers by allowing investigative powers to be used consistently and effectively across Medicare and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. Changes will also enable powers to be used in the investigation of Criminal Code offences and remove the need for AFP assistance with executing warrants for suspected Criminal Code offences.

These amendments will improve investigative powers in health portfolio legislation and ensure they can be put into practice consistently, effectively and proportionately to respond to behaviour that jeopardises the integrity of health benefits schemes.

Under the National Health Act 1953, a pharmacist can request that the Minister for Health and Aged Care exercise a discretion to approve the supply of pharmaceutical benefits at particular premises. This is currently a two-stage process, which can take up to six months. This is frustrating and time-consuming for the applicant and may also delay the community's access to pharmaceutical benefits.

In this bill, the two-stage process is proposed to be streamlined and condensed into a single-stage process of up to four months. This will help to reduce a significant administrative burden. And it will provide the community with more timely access to pharmaceutical benefits.

The amendments improve existing powers to obtain information about potential fraud and non-compliance and enable the recovery of amounts if they should not have been paid.

The Philip Review recommended the 'expansion of powers to ensure all types of serious non-compliance can be effectively dealt with' and 'a reduction in regulation and legislation that hinders compliance activities'.

The Philip Review concluded there are limitations and restrictions around current compliance processes. For example, if incorrect payments are identified, current provisions don't always enable amounts to be appropriately recovered. This is because some recovery mechanisms rely on outdated claiming processes and requests for hard copy documents. These matters are restricting the ability of the Department of Health and Aged Care to protect the integrity of Medicare programs and payments.

These changes will enable appropriate inquiries to be made about Medicare payments if available information suggests potential non-compliance or fraud. If payments are found to be incorrect, amounts could be recovered.

Changes will also improve the ability of regulators to protect patient safety by removing some restrictions on the admission of information obtained under the Professional Service Review's notice to produce powers as evidence in relevant proceedings, including proceedings for the purposes of the National Law for the health practitioner registration and accreditation scheme.

This will remove some restrictions on the admission of information obtained under the Professional Services Review Agency's 'notice to produce' powers as evidence in proceedings, including proceedings under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law.

The existing restrictions will no longer apply in respect of prosecutions related to a failure to produce documents, proceedings to recover debts relating to the Professional Services Review Scheme and some other proceedings related to non-compliance.

The restrictions will also not apply in respect of documents produced to PSR under notice and passed onto Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) or a National Board under certain provisions in the Health Insurance Act, or information obtained or generated by Ahpra or a National Board from its own investigation, triggered by documents produced to PSR under notice.

This will enable Ahpra and associated Health Practitioner Boards to use PSR-related material to trigger their own investigation into allegations involving risks to patient safety. This will also allow Ahpra and Health Practitioner Boards to admit evidence in National Law proceedings if it was referred to them under the legislation for the reasons of a significant threat to life or health or non-compliance with professional standards. These changes are required to ensure all appropriate steps are taken to protect patient safety and that the existing requirement to refer the information to Ahpra and Health Practitioner Boards is not frustrated.

These changes will enhance the Department of Health and Aged Care's capacity to address identified risks to patient safety and manage and address the consequences of non-compliance and potential fraud.

The bill makes several sensible amendments to the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 (the Therapeutic Goods Act).

The bill enhances the capacity of the government to manage and alleviate the consequences of therapeutic goods shortages in Australia. It allows the secretary of the department to approve the importation or supply of substitutable unapproved products from overseas if the Secretary is satisfied that the approved medicine, biological or medical device may, in the reasonably foreseeable future, become unavailable or be in short supply.

The bill supports compliance and enforcement activities in relation to both unlawful therapeutic goods and unlawful vaping goods.

Specifically, the bill broadens the circumstances in which section 52AAA applies to ensure that forfeiture arrangements can extend to the range of circumstances in which goods may be seized under the Therapeutic Goods Act. Rather than, as currently, only the circumstance where goods are seized under a warrant issued under section 50. This amendment will help deter the trafficking of such goods by sending a strong message to bad actors operating in this space that the Therapeutic Goods Association (TGA) will take unlawful goods permanently.

The bill lowers the threshold that must be satisfied before the secretary may give an enforceable direction to a person under section 42YT of the Therapeutic Goods Act. The current requirement is that a direction is necessary to protect the health and safety of humans. The amendment will result in a more balanced approach that a direction must be considered and issued in the interests of public health and safety. This approach ensures the more appropriate availability of such directions to protect Australians from new and emerging public health threats.

The bill enhances the ability of state and territory officers to monitor, investigate and enforce compliance with the Therapeutic Goods Act and Regulations by allowing for the provision, inspection, copying and retention of documents or information.

The bill also clarifies that section 61, which authorises the release of information in relation to therapeutic goods and vaping goods in certain circumstances, is not a secrecy provision.

The bill includes other minor amendments to the Therapeutic Goods Act, to keep the Act up to date and to assist with the TGA's important functions.

The bill also amends the Therapeutic Goods Act to make minor consequential amendments to support the government's ground-breaking vaping reforms.

Finally, the bill amends the Public Health (Tobacco and Other Products) Act 2023(the tobacco act) which commenced on 1 April 2024. These amendments clarify the intended operation of the provisions and are amendments that have been identified as necessary in the implementation phase of the legislation.

The measures in this bill will further the government's efforts to strengthen Medicare and will assist in the implementation of our world-leading tobacco and vaping reforms.

I commend the bill.

Jess Walsh (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In accordance with standing order 115(3), further consideration of these bills is now adjourned to 14 March 2025 and 3 April 2025 respectively.

Ordered that the bills be listed on the Notice Paper as separate orders of the day.