Australians deserve ambition from their leaders, Anthony Albanese has declared in an election pledge that will deliver millions of free visits to the doctor.
In a speech on Medicare in Launceston, the prime minister has unveiled Labor’s centrepiece announcement to spent $8.5 billion expanding bulk billing and training for GPs and nurses.
Mr Albanese said his government wants nine out of 10 visits to the GP to be free by the end of the decade.
“That’s an ambitious goal but people deserve ambition from their government on Medicare,” he said.
“Because just as every Australian wants the best possible health care for their family, our government wants the best possible health care for every Australian.”
The prime minister said Labor wanted to deliver on the “true promise and purpose” of Medicare.
“If the Australian people entrust our Labor government with a second term, a single, straightforward objective will be the foundation of our health policy,” he said.
A federal election must be held by May 17.
Fewer GP clinics have been taking on bulk-billed patients as they struggle to keep up with rising operational costs and increasing service complexity.
Mr Albanese said every GP practice would be offered a new incentive payment to bulk bill.
This would provide about 4800 practices across the country with the security they needed to bulk-bill every visit, he said.
A GP training program, which would start next year, would be the biggest in Australian history and deliver another 2000 new GPs each year.
“We will encourage more junior doctors to become GPs and to work in the regions and suburbs where they are needed most,” the prime minister said.
Under the health care commitment, 400 new scholarships for nurses and midwives would be created.
Health Minister Mark Butler said the modelling done on the policy showed there would be 20 million additional free visits to the doctor.
“I do want to see a situation where people go to the doctor if they feel they need to,” he told Sky News on Sunday.
Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor said Labor’s promise was “playing catch up”.
“We’re not going to get in the way of Labor cleaning up the mess that it has made and it’s important that that mess be cleaned up,” he told Sky.
Australia’s bulk-billing rate plummeted to 20.7 per cent at the start of 2025, down from 35.7 per cent two years earlier, according to data released by health care directory Cleanbill in January.
The proposed cash injection would be the biggest investment in Medicare since its creation 40 years ago, the government said.
The Royal Australian College of GPs welcomed the government’s workforce commitment to train 2000 new GPs every year by 2028 and incentivise more junior doctors to become specialist GPs, as part of the package.
But president Michael Wright flagged the proposal for a universal bulk-billing scheme wouldn’t necessarily mean everyone can access free medical care.
“Extending bulk-billing incentives to everyone won’t necessarily mean everyone gets bulk billed because patient rebates are still too low to cover the cost of care,” he said.
Mr Butler has also taken aim at Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, honing in on his time as a former health minister.
The coalition has defended Mr Dutton’s track record, claiming a 1.5 per cent increase in bulk-billing rates during his term as health minister in 2013 and a more than 10 per cent fall in rates since Labor took office in 2022.
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