MEDIA RELEASE 14 January 2025
Andrew Wallace, Federal Member for Fisher, has today raised serious concerns about the escalating
cost-of-living crisis under the current Labor government, particularly highlighting the increasing outof-
pocket costs for Australians to visit their General Practitioner (GP).
“Under Labor’s watch, the cost of living has skyrocketed, and this is having a direct impact on the
accessibility and affordability of essential healthcare services,” Mr Wallace said.
The Cleanbill report released today confirms what we already knew – under Labor, bulk billing is
going backwards as out-of-pocket costs are going up. These statistics from Cleanbill Australia are
described as “catastrophic”:
– Australia’s Bulk Billing Rate: The national bulk billing rate has continued to slide, dropping
from 35.7% at the start of 2023 to 20.7% at the start of 2025, while out-of-pocket costs have
steadily increased.
– Queensland’s Bulk Billing Rate: Queensland has seen a 12.6 percentage point drop in its
bulk billing rate in the last two years, with only 13.9% of available GP clinics now bulk billing
adult patients.
– Out-of-Pocket Costs: Queenslanders have also seen a 5% increase in out-of-pocket costs in
just the last year alone, now paying more than double the Medicare rebate for the average
standard GP consultation.
“These figures clearly show that Medicare rebates are no longer adequate to cover the costs of
running a GP clinic. As a result, more and more clinics are being forced to move to mixed billing or
full private billing models,” Mr Wallace stated.
General Practitioner in Fisher have expressed their concerns directly to Mr Wallace, stating that it is
becoming increasingly unsustainable to run a practice on the current Medicare rebates amidst the
rising costs of living. “Our local GPs are struggling to keep their doors open, and this is a direct
consequence of Labor’s failure to address the cost-of-living crisis,” he added.
Dr Jim Williams, Doctor at Lake Kawana General Practice says, “General Practice survived the body
blow of Covid – now it is being pushed under the eater by increased overheads – (staff wages,
insurance premiums, rents) that are not being met by a Medicare rebate that hasn’t kept
pace with CPI since its inception 40 years ago. This means that bulk-billing the most vulnerable
groups has become a business killer.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 8.8% of Australians cited rising costs as their main
reason for delaying or not seeing a GP when they needed to, up from 7% in the previous year.
It has literally never been harder or more expensive to see a doctor than under the Albanese Labor
Government. Hardworking Australians are having to fork out the highest amount of out-of-pocket
costs on record to see their doctor, adding further stress to household budgets in the middle of this
cost-of-living crisis. This is forcing them to make the difficult choice between going to see a doctor or
paying the bills, which is why more than 1.5 million Australians avoided seeing a GP in 2023-24. This
poses a serious risk to Australian’s health and that of our hospital systems, which we know are
already under pressure.
As Peter Dutton said just over the weekend, the Coalition is committed to Medicare and the health
of Australians. The Coalition has already announced that they will double the number of Medicare
mental health sessions available, after Labor ripped away this critical support from 240,000
Australians. Importantly, investing $400 million to grow a strong pipeline of locally-trained GPs,
which we know is critical to addressing Labor’s primary care crisis. This investment will provide
financial incentives for junior doctors who choose to train as a GP in the community. As the report
states, ensuring the availability of local doctors is a necessity. The Coalition is focused on ensuring all
Australians have timely and affordable access to healthcare.
Mr Wallace is calling on the government to take immediate action to review and increase Medicare
rebates to ensure that Australians can continue to access affordable healthcare. “It’s time for Labor
to step up and provide real solutions to the cost-of-living crisis that is affecting every Australian,
especially when it comes to accessing essential healthcare services,” he concluded.
[ENDS]
