Mark Butler
Hindmarsh · Australian Labor Party · Australia
“But earlier today we were all in here voting on the latest instalment in the member for Lindsay's ongoing but thus far unsuccessful campaign to rebrand the Liberal Party.”
“I thank the member for Werriwa for her contribution and for her really strong support for everything we're doing to make Medicare stronger and make medicines cheaper. I thank all members for their contributions to the debate on this bill. As the member for Werriwa said, Medicare is the very best of Australia.”
“I thank the member for his question, which is a question I've answered before in this place since the budget. As I've said on a number of occasions publicly and in this chamber, the additional support that over-65s have received since about 2004 for their private health insurance premium is something we did revisit given the significant p…”
“But, under ours, they'll receive an increase of more than 20 per cent, or an additional $160 million in this year alone, which means more doctors, more nurses and better care in Tasmania.”
“Importantly, this bill provides stability so patients can continue to benefit from the outcomes of these programs and strengthened access to primary care.”
“That approach gives providers and the government greater certainty while preserving the flexibility needed to keep program settings up to date as health system needs evolve. Importantly, the bill does not change the underlying policy settings of existing programs.”
The complete record
Every one of 580 lines we hold for Mark Butler, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 3 of 12.
“It's expected that the number of older Australians with health insurance will continue to increase, including people aged 65 and above. It's estimated there will be about 44,000 fewer people aged 65 and over insured by 2028-29 than if the rebate had remained unchanged. That is 0.4 per cent fewer insured people than otherwise expected, in a sector that is growing on average by two per cent per year, or five times that amount. This is a relatively low change in participation compared with the volume of services in hospitals, which means the impact on hospital admissions is expected to be marginal. The bill will implement the rebate change by amending Part 2-2 of the Private Health Insurance Act 2007 so the rebate calculation applies in the same way for people aged 65 and above as it does for those aged under 65.”
“It will mean that two households next door to each other on exactly the same income will receive the same support from government for their health insurance—regardless of age. It also allows us to invest $3 billion in critical funds to deliver more residential aged-care beds, more Support at Home packages, shorter wait times and better care for older Australians. This investment will: The change will impact approximately 3.2 million people aged 65 and over who have a taxable income below the rebate cut-off. It's expected the average increased premium for those impacted older Australians will be around $250 per year—or less than $1 per day. For some older Australians who choose more expensive policies, that increase may be higher.”
“And the current model is simply not the best way to spend taxpayers' dollars on behalf of older Australians when there is a significant need to expand access to aged-care services. Therefore, to re-establish intergenerational equity, and to better target and simplify the rebate, this bill will amend the Private Health Insurance Act 2007 , removing the higher rebates paid for people aged 65 and over. The rebate will remain means tested—a change Labor made in 2012 and those opposite opposed—paid at a higher rate for those on lower incomes. The rebate changes, if passed by the parliament, will take effect on 1 April 2027. I understand that this will not be a welcome decision for some, but it is the necessary and right thing to do.”
“The higher rebate for people aged 65 and above means two houses on the same income receive different levels of government rebate based only on their age. This is in addition to older people's health insurance claims already being cross-subsidised by younger policyholders under community rating, which means everyone pays the same premium for the same policy, regardless of their gender or their health status. Older Australians are more likely to retain private health insurance, and they receive significantly higher benefits on average than younger Australians. This means the inequitable targeting of the rebate simply does not align with its purpose to incentivise take-up.”
“I move: That this bill be now read a second time. The Private Health Insurance Amendment (Modernising the Private Health Insurance Rebate) Bill 2026 will address intergenerational inequity, simplify, and better target the rebate for private health insurance premiums. Currently, the government provides a rebate that supports Australians to take up and to hold private health insurance. Each year, government invest approximately $8 billion in the rebate to help keep private health insurance more affordable and to take pressure off our public health system. In the election environment of 2004, with a boom economy driven by global economic activity, the Howard government increased the private health insurance rebate, but only for people aged 65 and above. In 2026, that is difficult to defend.”
“Before November, only two out of every 10 general practices in Bendigo were fully bulk-billing. That's now seven in 10—from two in 10 to seven in 10, in just a few months. The general bulk-billing rate in Bendigo is up more than 21 per cent since our first investments in 2023—from 68 per cent to 89 per cent. For people who don't have the benefit of a concession card, the increase in bulk-billing in Bendigo has been more than 30 per cent, thanks to our investment. More bulk-billing and cheaper medicines, at a time of real cost-of-living pressure, are obviously good for the hip pocket and obviously good for household budgets. But they also mean that more people in Bendigo are going to the doctor and filling their scripts when they need to, rather than when they feel they can afford to.”
“These investments are making a real difference, not just in Bendigo but across regional Australia, and the biggest difference is in bulk-billing. As the member said, bulk-billing was in freefall when we came to government because of a decade of cuts to Medicare, and that is why we tripled the bulk-billing incentive paid to GPs in 2023 for pensioners and concession card holders. It's why, last November, we extended bulk-billing incentives for the first time ever to all Australians. Those incentives paid to GPs are much higher in regional Australia than in the major cities—50 per cent higher, for example, in a city like Bendigo. So I'm delighted to say that our bulk-billing investments, backed in so hard by the member for Bendigo, have utterly transformed bulk-billing in her community.”
“It is hard to find someone in this place who works harder than the member for Bendigo to ensure that her community gets the fullest benefit of our investments in a stronger Medicare. She campaigned for a Medicare urgent care clinic that has already seen 20,000 people in Bendigo, every single one of whom was fully bulk-billed. The year before that an endometriosis and pelvic pain clinic was opened in Bendigo, which has expanded and improved care options for women in that region. The longstanding Bendigo headspace will soon be upgraded to a better headspace Plus service so it can expand the range and the number of young people it can support. People in Bendigo have already filled three million cheaper medicines scripts because of our policies, including an additional 750,000 scripts that were completely free of charge.”
“These policies are obviously terrific for household budgets at a time of real cost-of-living pressure, but they also mean that more Australians are now filling the scripts their doctors say are important for their health, building a healthier Australia.”
“Before yesterday, they'd have been paying $7,000 a month for these tablets. Now they'll just pay PBS prices—and as you know, Mr Speaker, we've been making those PBS prices even cheaper every single year we've been in government. In the past four years, Australians have saved almost $3 billion in co-payments at the pharmacy counter. Pensioners and concession-card holders have received 90 million additional scripts completely free of charge, which previously they'd have had to pay for, and their maximum co-pay of $7.70 has been frozen for the rest of the decade. Patients without a concession card would have been paying, this year, more than $50 for PBS scripts if we hadn't acted. But, thanks to this government, they're now paying no more than $25 for their scripts—thanks to the latest cut we announced at the last election.”
“We know, tragically, blood cancer kills more Australians than any other cancer type except lung, and one of those listings, Blincyto, is an amazing new immunotherapy that's going to give great new hope to blood cancer patients. Before yesterday, it would have cost them $230,000 for a course of treatment, but now it's available at just PBS prices. We also listed Calquence, a daily tablet for patients with a new diagnosis of particular forms of leukaemia or lymphoma. Alona Robinson joined me yesterday at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, where she'd received Calquence on a clinical trial. She's a mum of four, a grandmum of two and happily in remission for more than five years. She told me how excited she was that others would now have access to this terrific life-saving medicine—we think about 1,200 others every single year.”
“Thank you to the member for Banks not just for the question but for his terrific advocacy for a stronger Medicare in his community. I'm pleased to say the bulk-billing rate in his electorate is now just shy of 90 per cent after our record investment. I know he regularly plugs the benefits as well of cheaper medicines. For 80 years, Australians have enjoyed the fruits of one of Labor's great legacies: the PBS, which gives them access to the world's best medicines at affordable prices. Since we were elected four years ago, we've made 450 new or amended listings to the PBS. Yesterday—just yesterday!—I was pleased to announce two new listings for blood cancer.”
“We remember that the Leader of the Opposition called our investments in urgent care and in bulk-billing, which the member for Solomon asked about, 'wasteful spending', but the people of Solomon know that a stronger Medicare is making a real difference to their lives.”
“It's the beating heart of Medicare and the guarantee started by Labor that Australians can be confident that they can go to the doctor whenever they need to, rather than when they can afford to. I'm pleased to say Solomon has seen the biggest increase in bulk-billing of any electorate since our record investment last year. The number of 100 per cent bulk-billing general practices in Solomon has tripled just since 1 November. The bulk-billing rate in Solomon is now 90 per cent, where we want the country to be by 2030. It is 23 per cent higher than it was in 2023, when we made our first investments, and the biggest increases have been for those who don't have the benefit of a concession card. In just five months those people in Darwin have seen an increase of more than 20 per cent in their bulk-billing rate.”
“There's been a 30 per cent increase in hospital funding from the Commonwealth after years of underfunding from previous governments. The NT hospitals will receive, over the course of our funding agreement, $1 billion more than they would have received if we'd rolled over the Morrison and Turnbull arrangements. As the member well knows, this week we opened the 136th urgent care clinic in the northern suburbs of Darwin, just around the corner from the endometriosis clinic in Coconut Grove. The Palmerston urgent care clinic has already seen 37,000 patients, and now the people of Darwin, particularly in the northern suburbs, will get the benefit of high-quality urgent care seven days a week, fully bulk-billed. Without a doubt the most remarkable transformation and change we're seeing in Solomon is in bulk-billing.”
“Through the member, can I thank the staff of the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre, which is stationed in Darwin. They are staffing the Bullsbrook quarantine facility down in Perth, and I announced only a few hours ago that the mandatory quarantine period for the six returned passengers from MV Hondius impacted by the hantavirus outbreak would be extended by another three weeks. That will be staffed by the NCCTRC. Also, they're doing terrific work in communities, helping with the diphtheria outbreak. More broadly, our government has been busy building a better health system for the Northern Territory, delivering on so many of the things that the member for Solomon and the member for Lingiari had been arguing for for years. Finally, Darwin now has its own medical school, having taken its first students this year.”
“Over the decades, our western suburbs have continued in that tradition, both before World War II and after, now culminating in the role that Osborne plays—particularly in the construction of our shipbuilding and submarine capabilities, which will be there for decades to come.”
“That role with the Defence Force has continued right through the ensuing 150 years or so. I want to share one little-known story about that association from the Second World War. In 1941, two seamen, who were stationed at the Port Adelaide naval base as part of the Navy's mine clearance program, were sent down to Beachport to disarm a German mine that had washed ashore in that part of South Australia. Able Seaman Thomas Todd and Able Seaman William Danswan, sadly, did not return to Port Adelaide that day after discharging their mine-disarming duties. Their loss marked the first Australian deaths on Australian soil during World War II as a result of enemy activity—in this case, the laying of mines on our coast.”
“I want to acknowledge the president of the sub-branch, Derek Meadows; Daryl Mundy, who is on the committee and who, year after year, puts in the hard work to organise this very significant community event; and all of the officers of that RSL. I also want to acknowledge the Henley RSL, the Largs sub-branch, the Seaton sub-branch, the Plympton Glenelg sub-branch and the Port Adelaide Naval Association for their work. Our community has a very long history with armed services, dating back to before Federation in 1901, particularly with the construction of Fort Largs and Fort Glanville in the 1870s and 1880s, which were designed to protect Adelaide shipping lanes into Port Adelaide against Russian attack, which was the major preoccupation that the colonies had at that time.”
“That is a hard act to follow indeed. Like many members, I want to rise to acknowledge the service history of my electorate—a federation seat, the electorate of Hindmarsh—particularly reflected through the Anzac services that took place late last month. I was honoured, once again, to serve as the MC at the 2026 Semaphore and Port Adelaide RSL dawn service. This was the largest crowd I remember in almost 20 years of playing that role at that service. Well over 10,000 people turned out from the local community. I want to thank them for showing their support for that local RSL sub-branch and for returned service men and women and families, particularly of those who made the ultimate sacrifice, from the western suburbs of Adelaide.”
“But I can undertake to go back to health ministers, first of all, to review the progress we've made and what else we can do and, particularly, to direct the new provider to seek clinical advice about whether we should lift that age limit to 40 from 35 and undertake and progress any other ideas that come from this really important community based campaign, Life-saving List.”
“You have asked me, Member for Kennedy, before and since, whether we would consider expanding the age limit for new registrants to age 40. As you know, the clinical advice is that donations from younger donors is clinically superior, which is why the current limit is 35 years of age. That is the age limit for new donor registrants. But balanced against that, frankly, is our need to make the donor base as wide as possible. Ultimately, though, this has to be based on clinical advice, and, as it happens, the department only earlier this week issued a tender for those services to go back out to market. We'll see who wins that tender.”
“We were then and are still one of the smaller stem cell donor registries of all developed countries. I said, after the member's question a few years ago, that I would take to health ministers a proposal to increase funding to the relevant organisations to undertake additional activity to recruit new stem cell donors to that registry. We did do that. We did release additional funds, and there has been an immediate impact from those activities, with double-digit growth in donor recruitment in 2024. This financial year in 2025-26, which is still not finished, the registry has expanded by almost 30 per cent. But you're right to say that there's more that we should be doing. The registry is still relatively small, and I look forward to hearing more ideas at tomorrow's events.”
“Thank you to the member for Kennedy for the question and for his long interest in this as a member of parliament but also as a member of a family who have suffered grief and loss, with the loss of Liam a couple of years ago. Speaker, I repeat your acknowledgement of the presence of Josephine and Rachelle and other campaigners for the Life-saving List in this chamber. They'll be joining you in your courtyard. Thank you, Speaker, for hosting the event tomorrow on World Blood Cancer Day. I know the member for Kennedy and many other members on both sides of the chamber have campaigned for a better blood stem cell donor list. The member for Kennedy is right to say that, a few years ago, I did acknowledge that Australia should be doing better here.”
“That is why this budget is funding six new fully bulk-billing clinics in those regions—to ensure that there is competition within general practice in that region and to spread the benefits of bulk-billing to that terrific community that the member for Robertson and his colleagues represent. Our plan to strengthen Medicare is a plan for all Australians.”
“The bulk-billing rate to the end of March—in just a few months—for those Australians without a concession card has already climbed by around nine per cent, delivering millions of additional free visits to the doctor already. As the member for Robertson and his colleagues in that region know, those benefits are not being enjoyed by Australians everywhere. In Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, parts of the Hunter and the Central Coast, the number of 100 per cent bulk-billing practices is about half the New South Wales average. The bulk-billing rate in some of those communities is around 20 per cent below the New South Wales average and a whopping 30 per cent below the rates you see in Western Sydney and south-western Sydney, with absolutely no rational explanation.”
“I'm pleased to report the latest data indicate the bulk-billing rate for those Australians with that concession card is now around 93 per cent. Unfortunately, the bulk-billing rate continued to fall for those Australians who didn't have a concession card, so last year, for the first time ever, this government extended bulk-billing support to every single Australian, not just those who had the card. We also offered a significant incentive to those general practices who decided to bulk-bill all of their patients all of the time. I'm pleased to report that, after only a few months, that is already making a huge difference. Since 1 November, more than 1,400 general practices have shifted from charging gap fees to becoming 100 per cent bulk-billing.”
“I thank the member for Robertson for hosting me in his beautiful electorate last week. He still pulls shifts at the emergency department at the Wyong Hospital, which is why he's known affectionately as Dr Gordon in that community. Importantly, he knows more than most the benefit of a well-functioning primary care system. He also knows that when we came to government in 2022, bulk-billing rates in this country were in freefall. Just in that one year alone, bulk-billing rates plummeted by more than 10 per cent, and it's no mystery why. It's because, for years and years, those opposite froze the Medicare rebate, strangling the income of Australia's general practitioners and forcing them to put in place gap fees. That is why, in our first budget, we tripled the bulk-billing incentive for Australia's pensioners and concession card holders.”
“This bill supports improved health outcomes, better access to care, and a stronger primary care system for all Australians. I commend the bill to the House. Debate adjourned.”
“The renaming will occur following a transition period to allow for consequential amendments across Commonwealth, state and territory frameworks. This bill is a foundational reform that supports the government's broader delivery of its Strengthening Medicare reforms that will improve access to high-quality primary care. By providing a stronger statutory basis for administering, monitoring and protecting the integrity of Medicare incentive payment programs, the bill helps ensure that government investment in primary care is delivered effectively and sustainably. This government is committed to strengthening Medicare. Measures introduced in successive budgets since 2022 have stopped the freefall in bulk-billing rates. Instead, we are now seeing them rise in every state and every territory.”
“That's why a cautious and deliberate approach is taken for the automation of administrative processes. The bill establishes structured review mechanisms, including internal reconsideration processes and access to independent merits review by the Administrative Review Tribunal. This ensures that providers have clear avenues to challenge decisions that affect them. The bill also strengthens information-sharing arrangements to support administration and program integrity, while maintaining appropriate protections for personal information. A further important element of the bill is the amendment to the short title of the Health Insurance Act 1973 to the Medicare Act. This change better reflects the scope and purpose of the legislation and improves public recognition and understanding of the act.”
“Providers currently receiving payments will transition seamlessly into the new legislative framework without the need to reapply. This ensures continuity for providers and avoids unnecessary administrative burden. Importantly, it provides stability, so patients can continue to benefit from the outcomes of these programs and strengthened access to primary care. The bill also modernises the legislative architecture underpinning these programs. It enables the use of automated administrative processes, supported, of course, by appropriate safeguards, transparency and oversight mechanisms. These provisions are designed to support efficient, high-volume administration while maintaining accountability and review rights. Australians rightly expect care when technology is used in decision-making.”
“Second, they establish clear and consistent processes for program participation, administration and decision-making, including strengthened approval pathways and procedural fairness safeguards. Third, they enhance the integrity of government expenditure by ensuring that existing compliance, information use and debt recovery provisions apply appropriately to incentive payment programs. Together, these changes support proper administration, protect public money, and maintain confidence in incentive payment programs under Medicare. Importantly, the bill does not alter the underlying policy settings of existing incentive programs. There are no proposed changes to substantive eligibility criteria or payment amounts for providers.”
“It establishes, for the first time, a clear and enduring legislative framework for Commonwealth health incentive payment programs. The bill inserts a new part into the Health Insurance Act 1973 to provide a consistent statutory basis for the establishment and administration of these programs, while retaining flexibility for operational program detail to be set through rules. This approach ensures that the framework is robust, while remaining adaptable to evolving health system needs. The reforms in this bill will deliver several key improvements. First, they provide greater certainty for healthcare providers and for government by placing these programs on a stable legislative footing.”
“Thanks to this program, now approximately 97 per cent of the population are within a 20-minute drive of a bulk-billing practice. They also include longstanding programs such as the Practice Incentives Program, which supports quality improvement and better health outcomes through targeted payments to general practices, and the Workforce Incentive Program, which supports a stronger multidisciplinary primary-care workforce, particularly in rural and regional areas. Together, all of these incentive programs represent over $1.4 billion of this government's annual investment in Australia's healthcare system. However, these incentive payment programs currently operate without a clear and consistent legislative framework tailored to their administration, compliance and oversight. This bill addresses that gap.”
“These programs are an integral part of Medicare and provide targeted support to healthcare providers to improve patient outcomes, to expand access to care, particularly in rural and regional communities, and to encourage innovation in service delivery. These programs include those introduced by this government. That includes the Bulk Billing Practice Incentive Program, which supports practices to provide bulk-billed Medicare services to their patients, and the general practice aged-care incentive, or GPACI, which supports the delivery of high-quality primary care to older Australians in residential aged-care settings. These programs are working, with bulk-billing rates increasing in every state and territory since the Bulk Billing Practice Incentive Program was introduced last November.”
“I move: That this bill be now read a second time. The Health Insurance Amendment (Incentive Payments and Other Measures) Bill 2026 is an important step in strengthening the integrity, transparency and sustainability of Medicare primary healthcare funding. Medicare is the very best of Australia. It allows Australians to receive high-quality health care, regardless of their bank balance. The Albanese government is strengthening Medicare, the heart of universal health care, to make it easier for Australians to see a GP for free. Primary-care incentive programs are a central part of how the government is strengthening Medicare. They support better access, affordability and quality in Australia's primary-care system.”
“I want to thank them and all the other campaigners who were behind this campaign, because it will ensure that women—like Shelly, Amanda and so many like them—will finally get the information and the support that they deserve as soon as they need it.”
“So, last year, the government finally added three widely used treatments to the PBS for the first time in two decades. These are treatments used by about 150,000 women every single year, and this is saving them up to $580 every year as well. Yesterday, as I said, we responded to yet another recommendation from that terrific Senate inquiry to launch this national information campaign in order to break that silence and to help women entering perimenopause in particular recognise the symptoms and know where they can go for help and further information. Shelly Horton and Amanda Smyth were two of the terrific women who joined us yesterday and bravely told their stories to the media—stories of entering perimenopause and frankly not really knowing what was happening in their body and in their mind or where to get help.”
“A Senate inquiry last term found that women, frankly, don't get the support and the information that they need from the health system in this area. Remarkably, it revealed that medical degrees include only a few hours of training on menopause across five or six years of education. That's why we've ramped up training for existing doctors and health professionals. It's why we're updating the clinical guidelines to ensure that Australia's women get the best possible care and support. A new Medicare menopause health assessment item has already been used by more than 105,000 Australian women since it commenced last July. The inquiry also highlighted the lack of new menopause hormone treatments for more than 20 years on the PBS, in spite of there being several innovative products on the market throughout that period.”
“Thank you to the member for Paterson for her open talk about so many health issues, including this, not just in the Hunter but right across Australia. She joined a large number of women from this side of the House yesterday to launch the first ever menopause and perimenopause information campaign. I wish the Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care could answer this question, under standing orders, because she has done the hard work to lead this campaign, and she led the launch yesterday with a collection of terrific women who, for years, have been campaigning to end the silence and break the taboo around perimenopause and menopause and, frankly, to give Australia's women the information that they need and deserve during this part of their lives.”
“We don't think there is a strong policy rationale to pay different Australians different levels of support for their private health insurance membership, when they are on the same income, simply because of age.”
“I thank the member for the question. I'm happy to explain the government's rationale for the decisions we put into the budget on Tuesday night and I announced a few weeks ago. I don't accept the figure that the member has used in her question. I've seen the industry put out a figure like that. I can't find any way in which that is going to be real. We've been very clear in the modelling that we have prepared, based on different health insurance products out there, that the average impact of the change that we've announced would be somewhere between $230 and $250 per year, not the figures that are bandied about by the industry. Nonetheless, we have taken this difficult decision in a challenging budget environment for these reasons.”
“They will then be transported immediately to the Centre for National Resilience, the quarantine centre at Bullsbrook, which is effectively next door to the RAAF base. Staff from the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre have already been deployed to that centre, ready to receive those passengers. They will be quarantined there for three weeks at least. That is the strongest quarantine response to this outbreak in the world that I can find, because we are determined to do everything to keep Australians safe and healthy.”
“It will be landing at RAAF Bass Pearce, north-east of Perth, some time tomorrow. As I said, all six passengers are being monitored very closely. They all remain symptom free. They have all just been tested and that test proved negative for hantavirus. There will be very strict conditions for the entire flight, for the landing and for the time they spend in quarantine. Those conditions have been developed by the CDC and have been endorsed recently by the chief health officers of the Australian Health Protection Committee, which is the committee of all of the jurisdictions and chaired by our Chief Medical Officer. All of the passengers and all crew will be in full PPE for the entire duration of the flight, including when they land at Pearce.”
“All 11 patients are either passengers or crew from the ship. There is no report of any virus being contracted by anyone who was not on that ship. The advice remains that human-to-human transmission, although it has obviously occurred, is still very rare and requires very close contact with an infected person, but obviously our agencies, including the CDC, are monitoring that advice as it develops from this outbreak. I can advise that the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has secured a flight and a crew to repatriate those six passengers, and has also secured all of the necessary approvals and clearances for that flight. That flight will be landing in the Netherlands in a little less than 90 minutes. It will take off from the Netherlands about 90 minutes after that.”
“Thank you to the member for Lalor for the question and the opportunity to provide the House with an update on the hantavirus that's connected with the cruise ship MV Hondius . This morning, I received a further briefing from the Australian Centre for Disease Control and the Chief Medical Officer about any developments in relation to this outbreak. Also this morning, the National Coordination Mechanism between our department, the CDC, NEMA and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade met to finalise the repatriation arrangements for the six passengers being repatriated to Australia. That's four Australian citizens, an Australian permanent resident and a New Zealand citizen. The latest World Health Organization advice is that there are 11 people who have contracted the hantavirus, three of whom, tragically, have died.”
“Schedule 4 makes minor amendments to facilitate the operationalisation and rollout of new framework planning. Schedule 5 deals with transitional matters relevant to the entirety of the bill. The NDIS is one of Australia's great human rights achievements. Within 13 years, the scheme has gone from a dream of generations of activists to a deeply cherished institution. It has changed lives—and changed our country—overwhelmingly for the better. The government is determined to return the scheme to its original purpose. We will do this by: Australians expect the NDIS to continue to support people with a disability and their families, and to continue to transform their lives. This bill sets the course for securing the NDIS for future generations. I commend the bill to the chamber. Debate adjourned.”
“The bill contains provisions to govern the automation of administrative action in the NDIS. As members know, technology is increasingly part of how governments deliver services. When used properly, it can help deliver decisions more quickly, more consistently and more fairly. It can also free up the skills and judgements of our public servants to focus on the interactions where human involvement matters most. The government is clear-eyed about the risks. Australians rightly expect care when technology is used in human services. We are acutely aware of the consequences when technology is introduced without proper safeguards. This government will not repeat those mistakes. That is why this bill takes a cautious, deliberate and legislated approach to the automation of administrative action.”
“Currently, the agency undertakes an annual pricing review to determine what changes, if any, are required to NDIS prices. The NDIS review found that the agency's current approach to setting NDIS prices is not always transparent and prices were sometimes bluntly applied. This change will establish a clearer and more transparent mechanism to set and enforce prices under the scheme. The minister will consider the advice of the agency following its annual pricing review and will then: This is comparable to the arrangements in aged care and overtime the government will consider whether to move to independent pricing advice to the minister. This bill will also protect participants from being overcharged. If a person is overcharged, the agency will be able to recover the difference from the provider.”