Basem Abdo
Calwell · Australian Labor Party · Australia
“The World Cup is a festival of football, and I'm proud of our government's backing through the Urban Precincts and Partnerships Program, which helped bring the world game to the big screens at Town Hall Broadmeadows, alongside our local partners.”
“We know Australia for what it is—a nation built by people who have come from every corner of the world seeking opportunity, working hard, raising families and helping build a better life for themselves and in turn helping build Australia.”
“I happened to graduate from the same school as Aziz and members of his family, and shared a university class with one of his siblings. Some of his earlier moments in the football journey were at one of our local clubs, Hume City, before going on to represent Australia on the world stage as a Socceroo.”
“We believe in an Australia that's confident in its diversity and strengthened by the contributions of people from every corner of the world who have chosen to make this country home.”
“When it comes to cost-of-living support, we're supporting first home buyers get a foothold into the market because we see homeownership for what it is—helping families get the stability they need in attaining the security of a home.”
“The Albanese Labor government is delivering for working families. Whether it be investments in Medicare, housing, roads, infrastructure or cost-of-living relief, we're focused on what matters.”
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“What they're really saying is that Australia should sit quietly and accept whatever the world hands to us. This government believes Australia should help write the rules, and that's why our minister has been asked to lead COP negotiations. We are Australia; we don't aim for second place. Those opposite can explain why they do. Our policies are built around Australian families and Australian industry. They spoke about manufacturing. In my electorate, the Ford factory delivered generations of secure, well paid work. When the industry needed support, the Liberals attacked our automotive industry. They issued ultimatums. They questioned its commitment and dared it to leave. And when Ford, Holden and Toyota shut their doors, those opposite applauded their exit.”
“If your only focus is political pointscoring, you will never act in the national interest. We have an exceptionally strong climate and energy team. Teamwork, of course, is a foreign concept to those opposite. We've taken real steps to help: three rounds of energy bill relief, a gas price cap, and major investment in cheaper renewable energy while rebuilding a reliable modern grid after a decade of neglect. The Australian Energy Market Commission could not be more clear: delaying the connection of renewables and transmission puts upward pressure on electricity bills. This is where the opposition has completely lost the plot. They walked away from net zero. They walked away from investment certainty, and they walked away from Australia's place in the world.”
“Those opposite love nothing more than talking Australia down. While this government is strengthening our energy system, lowering wholesale prices and rebuilding our reputation in the world, their only instinct is to sneer, to undermine and to oppose. With our family in the Pacific, Australia has just secured unprecedented influence over global climate and energy deliberations. In 2026, Australia and the Pacific will co-host a special pre-COP, giving Pacific leaders and communities the global stage they deserve and ensuring the world sees the impacts and solutions of our region firsthand. That outcome strengthens our security, strengthens our economy and strengthens Australia's standing in the world, and the only response from those opposite is to try to tear Australia down.”
“Students like this are the reason why we fight for education on this side of the House. I am proud to support this bill. We will always support and fight for measures that make our education system more accessible, stronger and fairer. I commend this bill to the House. Debate adjourned. Federation Chamber adjourned at 19:33”
“The government understands this challenge and has acted by establishing a suburban university study hub in my electorate, because we know that where these study hubs are, university participation rates go up. During the opening of the university study hub in my electorate, a student shared her experience of how the university study hub has enabled her to cut her commute time down to just minutes thanks to her close proximity to the study hub. This has enabled her to study and focus on the studies without disruptions to her work and personal life. Students shared not only the convenience that the university study hub delivers but also the importance of being able to access an environment and the facilities, resources and added wraparound support that it provides. One student was the first in her family to attend a university—a milestone.”
“But it's not limited to just the cohort of students who attended a university, as over 280,000 VET student loans and Australian Apprenticeship Support Loans will also see a 20 per cent reduction. This gives students more financial freedom to focus on doing what matters to them. It's worth noting that often this comes at a critical time in their lives as they are starting a family, looking to purchase a new home and tackling the cost of living. On top of the 20 per cent reduction in student loans, the Albanese Labor government has provided real support to students in my community in Melbourne's outer suburbs. For students in areas that I represent, it can be difficult to access university campuses.”
“The very first thing we legislated was to cut student debt by 20 per cent and to change the way fees are indexed and repayments are made going forward. We legislated this promise, this commitment, and already student debt reductions have come into effect, providing major cost-of-living relief for so many Australians. I want to also thank and acknowledge the work of the Minister for Education, someone who cares deeply about education but equally about the importance of the access and opportunity that education brings, particularly and importantly to our outer suburbs. This reform is often associated with university students who have incurred a HECS debt from either their current or prior university studies.”
“I am proud of the work that TAFEs like the Kangan Institute do in my electorate, and I want to thank the Minister for Skills and Training for his steadfast advocacy when it comes to providing greater access to skills and training opportunities for all Australians. I know his commitment to our community, to Melbourne's north and to all Australians seeking to skill, upskill and reskill. Fighting for greater access to education irrespective of one's background or circumstances is a core Labor principle. It is a principle that drives members on this side of the House and indeed the Albanese Labor government. The Albanese Labor government's commitment to opening opportunities to pursue education also extends to students enrolled in university and to those who have graduated.”
“It's real cost-of-living relief for those who are looking to rejoin the workforce after a job loss or for younger Australians, who are set to benefit. That's why our government is supporting 100,000 places in free TAFE each year from 2027. On this side of the House we understand that if we embark on large initiatives, such as Future Made in Australia and the Housing Australia Future Fund, we need to invest and support the institutions that will train and equip our workforce with the skills necessary to see these initiatives through and enable Australians to participate in the employment opportunities that these record investments bring.”
“We, on this side, value free TAFE, and we value the Australians who benefit from free TAFE, whether it's a young person leaving school and beginning their journey into further education, towards starting their career, or someone who's been retrenched in middle age, a difficult experience. Regrettably, that was not an uncommon experience in my electorate when those opposite were in charge and actively goaded our local industry to leave, seeing thousands of workers across Melbourne's north left to fend for themselves in an act of economic vandalism only those opposite could ever put together. Workers like the ones I just mentioned are a key reason why fee-free TAFE is so critical. We remove a key barrier for those who need the opportunity and assistance the most.”
“When workers need to reskill and to find their feet again in the workforce to regain the dignity of work and provide for themselves and their families, initiatives like this are a necessity. We had those on the other side—those responsible for destroying Australian industry, whose imaginations cannot extend beyond the vision of Australia solely as a quarry—shipping our resources overseas, failing to support value added manufacturing and driving down Australia's economic and manufacturing complexity to the floor. While we set standards, they see floors as ceilings. The now Leader of the Opposition, while talking about free TAFE, said, 'If you don't pay for something, you don't value it.' What a cynical view of the Australian people! Those opposite view communities like mine with disdain and view the Australian people with disdain.”
“Free TAFE, and our TAFE system more broadly, has been the cornerstone of economic participation in communities like mine in my electorate of Calwell, which has seen major changes to its industrial base, specifically the fall of the automotive industry that saw Ford and a raft of employers dependent on Ford close down, causing job losses for thousands in my electorate and surrounding areas. Our supply chains were torn up, and manufacturing was driven out of our community by a Liberal Party that launched a full-scale attack on Australian manufacturing, on Australian industry, on Australian jobs and on Australian families. It is these types of workers who will find the provision of VET TAFE and, specifically, free TAFE of significant help.”
“Our government has invested in our future tradies by expanding the Key Apprenticeship Program to include a housing construction apprenticeship stream, providing up to $10,000 in financial incentives to new apprentices. This is on top of other key initiatives that support apprentices in their work whilst also delivering real cost-of-living relief, including the living-away-from-home allowance, the Australian apprentice training support payment and the priority hiring incentive. This government's commitment to skills and training extends beyond VET. Free TAFE reflects what the Albanese Labor government stands for—providing real cost-of-living relief while also advancing opportunities for Australians to get the skills they need to participate in our workforce.”
“Australia's economy, both at present and going into the future, depends on a workforce with the skills that vocational training helps deliver and on the ability to skill and reskill our workforce to advance both our economy and Australia's national interest, delivering the future of energy and housing, delivering on manufacturing and delivering on a future made in Australia. We understand the importance of having a workforce with the skills needed to seize new industries, support employers, meet community needs and stay competitive, and we, on this side of the House, back this in through policy and with purpose. Our government supports those who will be on the front line in addressing the need to build more housing because we, on this side of the House, understand the role that apprentices play in addressing housing supply.”
“We're a government that believes that bureaucracy should not override practicality so that technicalities don't hinder vocational education and training, don't hinder progress and don't inhibit the Albanese Labor government's focus on the skills and training required for today and into the future. These changes reflect the careful and considered work of our government in ensuring that Australians are able to participate in acquiring the skills they need to pursue their career of choice. As they embark on their education journey, it can be one made with confidence knowing that the system works. On this side of the House, we'll continue to fight for VET and TAFE because we understand that a strong vocational education system is vital to addressing the economic challenges and opportunities that are before us.”
“The changes will allow the department to mask tax file numbers of students and allow for the department to transfer tax file numbers within their relevant systems, relinquishing VET student loan providers from the need to handle tax file numbers. We've taken action to ensure that this issue is resolved and that there is certainty for students and providers. It provides integrity to the system and ensures that there's no disruption imposed on both students and providers. Students will still be able to fulfill the enrolment process when applying for a loan using the Electronic Commonwealth Assistance Form, as they were before these reforms.”
“Our government is taking steps to fix a problem identified during a review of how VET student loans were administered in relation to the handling of a student's tax file number by a provider when completing an application for a VET student loan. The use of a tax file number plays a critical role when it comes to the use of a loan scheme such as the VET student loan scheme. It enables students to accurately track and repay their loans via the tax system. This legislation will take steps that will see providers no longer be required to handle tax file numbers of students. It provides the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations with the ability to realign its IT systems to enable this to occur.”
“These courses have arguably never been more important with respect to employment outcomes and opportunities, with the opportunities they afford by helping to address skills shortages in industries right across our economy, involving fields such as science, technology, engineering or mathematics and occupational licencing trades. This is particularly important for communities such as mine. Without programs such as the VET student loans, many students would not have the opportunity to undertake tertiary studies. Australian businesses and the economy would also miss out on the skill these students and alumni bring to our industries.”
“I want to highlight the importance of VET student loans to my community, to Australians and to our economy. The VET student loans program makes vocational education and training more accessible to Australians. It enables students to undertake a VET course and defer the payment of tuition fees to an income-contingent loan—a similar scheme to the HECS-HELP loans that enable university students to defer their fees until they pass certain wage thresholds. It's very much about fairness in our tertiary education system. It provides financial support to students undertaking higher level training and courses that address workplace and industry needs.”
“I rise to speak on the VET Student Loans (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2025. On this side of the House, we know the importance of vocational education and training and its impact on opening up opportunities for so many in my community and right across Australia, whether it's a young person beginning their journey in the workforce or someone looking to reskill or upskill—a need which will become even more important to help address the economic changes our country is witnessing. It's the confidence of knowing that there are initiatives such as the VET and TAFE systems that are not only available but funded, supported and protected by the Albanese Labor government that gives certainty to students enrolled and looking to be enrolled knowing they have a government that supports them on their journey.”
“We owe it to them—and to every person who depends on their care—to ensure that this responsibility is met with fairness. The quality of care we deliver can only ever match the value we place on those who provide it. Dignity in care also means dignity for these carers.”
“As this workforce supports people through their personal struggles, I also want to recognise the Health and Community Services Union in my home state for standing with their members in their collective struggle for dignified wages and working conditions. To those who work in mental health, disability and drug and alcohol services, to the nurses, allied health professionals, lived and living experience workers, disability support workers, administrative staff, program and support workers: thank you—thank you for showing up, for your care and for your compassion. To all who serve others in their time of need, please know this: we see you, we stand by you and we support you. The trust that helps hold our health system together rests also on the shoulders of this workforce.”
“I'm an advocate for the dignity of work. It's what drives me every day in representing my community and in helping shape Australia and our economy. These workers not only carry that dignity with them every day but deliver it to others through the care and support they provide. That's why it's incumbent on all of us in this place not only to thank them but to support them, to stand by them, to back them and to deliver for them, just as they deliver for our communities. Nobody chooses the circumstances that place them at the receiving end of this care. When we talk about the dignity of work, we often mean the dignity that comes from employment itself. But we must also talk about dignity in work, which depends on fair conditions, proper staffing levels and fair pay.”
“Professionals across our allied health sector do incredible work, not only in supporting our health system and keeping it afloat but also through the vital role they play in preventive health care, helping people spend less time within that system in the first place. I've spoken before about how workers in this space are too often overlooked and underpaid, and I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge the critical work they do in communities like mine supporting some of our most vulnerable people. When all else fails, when someone's health, ability or circumstance changes, when self-reliance becomes increasingly out of reach, it is our disability and allied health workforce who step in. They pick up the pieces for patients and their families during some of the most vulnerable and emotional times in their lives.”
“My question is to the Minister for Health and Ageing. How is the Albanese Labor government delivering on our commitment to more Australians accessing bulk-billing? Why is it so important after a decade of cuts and neglect?”
“Australia will need more than 100,000 additional electricians by 2050 to power the energy transition and to tackle housing. Through Apprentice Connect Australia, the $10,000 housing apprenticeship incentives and the $60 million Building Women's Careers Program, we're backing apprentices with skills, support and safe workplaces. Thank you to the ETU and to Aaron, Matt and Maya for their courage in speaking up and sharing their stories with us last week. Apprentices are a vulnerable cohort of young workers and workers new to the industry. They are the workers we need to help deliver the future of energy, housing and manufacturing, and of a future made in Australia.”
“Every apprentice deserves to be safe at work. That's why the Minister for Skills and Training brought colleagues together to establish a zero tolerance approach to apprentice harm, updating the national code of good practice for apprenticeships and traineeships. Governments, industry and advocates share responsibility for apprentice safety. We're working with states and territories, training providers, employers and unions to ensure every apprentice receives the training, support and protection they deserve. Research by the Electrical Trades Union found one in eight apprentice electricians has been exposed to a potentially deadly electrical shock at work, and, when classroom training is delayed, that risk doubles. That's not good enough. We must ensure our apprentices are safe in every classroom and on every job site.”
“We had a neglected health system, longer wait times and Australians paying for care that should have been free. And who was at the helm of that policy? It was the current Leader of the Opposition, the then health minister—someone who said, 'If you don't pay for something, you don't value it.' My community values Medicare, we on this side of the House value Medicare, and Australians value Medicare.”
“It's nearly the end of the week. Not only will it be great to return to our communities, but, from Saturday, what goes live is the single-largest investment in Medicare ever. We're expanding the bulk-billing incentive to all Australians, and we're boosting payments to general practices that bulk-bill every patient. We're already seeing the difference this is making in my own community. The Craigieburn Medical and Dental Centre has already moved to 100 per cent bulk-billing. It means families don't have to worry about gap payments or putting off care because of costs. I'm proud to have announced a full Medicare mental health centre in my community to roll out more places that locals can go for free public mental health care, backed by Medicare. Under those opposite, it had never been harder to see a doctor. Bulk-billing was in freefall.”
“I just want to note for the member for Barker that, if you're not going to take up the full time that you're allowed to speak, my understanding of the law relates to severe foetal abnormalities incompatible with life or serious threats to a pregnant woman's health and life.”
“I thank the community organisations—Economic Justice Australia, ACOSS, Legal Aid and so many others—who have advocated tirelessly on this issue. This is thoughtful, responsible reform. It is about integrity in administration, compassion in government and justice for ordinary Australians who deserve nothing less. I'll leave you with a thought from Tammy, who made it clear that being liberated from a punitive debt can be life altering for people on the margins: 'It means less stress. It means that a parent in crisis can say, "I will be okay; my kids will be okay." It means they've got a fighting chance to keep their heads above water.' When people reach out for help, their government should meet them with a hand, not a demand.”
“It is grounded in recognition, guided by law and motivated by compassion. This legislation is about more than technical amendments. It's about restoring a simple but vital truth: our social security system exists to support, not to punish. It ensures that people who did nothing wrong are not left carrying the burden of bureaucratic error. It upholds the law, strengthens protections and clears away years of accumulated unfairness. It reflects what Labor stands for: a government that takes responsibility, fixes mistakes and treats every Australian with respect. I want to acknowledge the Minister for Social Services for her careful and principled work on this issue and on all issues in relation to her portfolio.”
“This bill means those people will not be chased for minimal errors. It means decision-makers can see the full picture, including when coercion or abuse were at play. It means those affected by an unlawful process have a clear and fair path to closure. The lessons from this saga extend beyond Services Australia and the Department of Social Services. They go to the culture of government itself. The ombudsman called it a lesson in lawfulness and a reminder that good intentions are not enough if the law is not followed and oversight is ignored. Transparency and accountability are not optional extras. They are the conditions of public trust. In government, mistakes will sometimes happen, but integrity is measured by how government responds to them. This bill represents that response.”
“It has an indicative cost of $283.7 million over the forward estimates and $41.2 million per year ongoing from 2029-30. Those numbers matter, but so does what they represent: a system that values fairness, efficiency and humanity in equal measure. For decades, the administrative machinery of welfare debt recovery has been built on the assumption that error and fraud are widespread, but the evidence shows that the overwhelming majority of Australians do the right thing. This legislation recognises that reality and shifts our system from suspicion to support. In electorates like mine, where casual and shift work is common and people juggle multiple jobs to make ends meet, these technical errors are not abstract. They're lived experience. They're the reason someone's rent fell behind or their electricity was disconnected.”
“Applications open in January of next year. This is how good governments should act, in terms of admitting where fault lines are in the system, compensating fairly and ensuring that such errors cannot recur, with a response that does not overwhelm the very same system designed to support vulnerable Australians. Others have asked, 'Is this robodebt 2.0?' It's not. Robodebt was a scheme born of deliberate disregard. It was automated and unlawful and was maintained against explicit legal advice. Income apportionment was a human error—manual, mistaken and unchallenged for too long, but never driven by malice. Yet both are linked by a common thread: the need to rebuild trust between citizens and the state. That is what this bill sets out to do. This package is fair, and it is fiscally responsible.”
“Between the early nineties and 2020, millions of debts were calculated by using this method. The scale of this legacy is immense: around 5.5 million debts involving three million people and worth approximately $4.4 billion. To manually recalculate them would take years and divert thousands of staff away from their core job of supporting Australians who need help right now. That is why this bill does two things: first, it retrospectively validates the historical use of income apportionment to prevent mass legal uncertainty. Second, it creates a fair and compassionate pathway for those affected through the Income Apportionment Resolution Scheme. Under the scheme, people with debts from 1 September 2003 to 6 December 2020 will be eligible. They can apply for resolution payments of up to $600, depending on the size of their original debt.”
“Importantly, this bill also expands the special circumstances waiver, allowing decision-makers to consider a person's broader life circumstances when deciding whether a debt should be pursued, including extending it to situations of financial abuse or coercive control. If someone's partner controlled their access to income or pressured them to give false information, the system should recognise that. This reform delivers on Labor's 2025 election commitment to embed safety in Commonwealth systems and implement a key recommendation of the 2024 joint parliamentary inquiry into financial abuse. It ensures that our welfare system can never again be weaponised against those already living with abuse. It is practical reform with profound moral importance. The bill also addresses the long shadow left by the income apportionment practice itself.”
“The administration of social security must be transparent, accountable and humane. This bill is the government's comprehensive response—an effective, rational response. It fixes the rules, reforms the debt process and builds in fairness for the future. For the first time in more than 30 years, the small debt waiver threshold will rise to $250 and will now be indexed annually to CPI. That single change will wipe or prevent about 1.2 million small, undetermined debts in 2025-26—almost half the backlog currently sitting with Services Australia. It makes no sense to spend more money recovering a debt than the debt is worth. This change saves taxpayers money and spares ordinary Australians unnecessary stress. It brings an outdated threshold, unchanged since the 1990s, in line with modern realities.”
“They paused around 13,000 debt reviews and identified 87,000 potentially affected cases but failed to alert oversight bodies quickly enough. The Ombudsman made four key recommendations: (1) seek an authoritative legal view from the Solicitor-General or the Federal Court, (2) develop a clear policy on the secretary's power to review historical debts, (3) work with the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions to manage the impact on past and future criminal cases and (4) share all relevant legal advice transparently across agencies. The agencies accepted or partially accepted every one of those recommendations. The Ombudsman's message was plain: the law must be followed even, and especially, when it is inconvenient. This is a very important principle which we must never forget, especially when it's inconvenient.”
“The government changed the legislation that year to fix the issue going forward, but that still left an enormous historical tangle. Decades of debts and decisions had been made using a method now deemed unlawful. The Commonwealth Ombudsman's investigation examined what should happen next and what should have happened much sooner. The Ombudsman found that, since at least 2003, Services Australia and its predecessor agencies had been unlawfully spreading income across multiple fortnights. The effect was that people's payments were often calculated on the wrong evidence at the wrong time and for the wrong amount. The investigation also found that, when doubts were first raised in 2020, the agencies took too long to act. They sought multiple rounds of legal advice, some of it conflicting, but delayed finalising a clear position.”
“I'm scared and I need this money for my children." They'd often call Centrelink and agree to a payment plan where they'd promise something they couldn't afford. Imagine not having enough money for food because you've overpromised, you've got this debt and the government wants their money back and you feel like you are being punished. There's a sense of shame in not having enough money for food. Nobody ever wants to hear their child say, "I'm hungry, Mum."' This is the bitter legacy that mechanisms like income apportionment left for far too many Australians. Thankfully, this legislation ends that once and for all. In 2020 a Federal Court decision made it clear beyond doubt that income apportionment was not permitted under the law that then stood.”
“When the system starts from a belief that people on welfare are to be met with distrust, errors multiply and compassion disappears. That attitude costs more than money: it corrodes trust, it hardens the spirit of social safety nets and it leaves a stain that can take generations to remove. Tammy is a financial counsellor who works with people in my community. She saw firsthand the real-life damage that was done to people who were slugged with a wrongful debt by income apportionment at a time when they were already struggling to stay afloat. Tammy told my office: 'There's this depressing feeling of "I'm being punished again. The government is after me. Oh, my goodness, it's the government.”
“It made an assumption that every income-earning day was the same and that, as a result, recipients had been overpaid when in fact they hadn't. That's income apportionment. It sounds technical, but its consequences were very real. For some, it meant an underpayment, a smaller payment than they were due. For many more, it meant a letter telling them they owed money to the Commonwealth. Debts were raised—some were repaid, some prosecuted—all based on a practice that was later found to be unlawful. This went on for nearly two decades and, while this was not robodebt—it was not automated, nor was it implemented against legal advice—it shared a troubling trait: a deep-seated presumption of mistrust towards those who rely on government support.”
“That is why this bill is so important. It is addressing an issue that is less notorious and without the malice of robodebt but that, nevertheless, has a negative impact on vulnerable people in our community, and that is the longstanding process known as income apportionment. With income apportionment, imagine your pay slip covers two weeks of work but begins halfway through a Centrelink fortnight. One week falls in the first Centrelink period, the other week in the next. If you work more shifts in one week than the other, your income fluctuates, so your payment should too. But for years Centrelink assumed that income was earned evenly across the whole pay slip period. It spread that pay across both fortnights, even though the law said that income could only be counted in the period it was actually earned.”
“Labor is determined to repair the damage that was done to so many innocent Australians who were hurt by the previous coalition government's cruel and disastrous robodebt scheme, to restore trust, to uphold the law and to rebuild a system that treats people with dignity, because, when government makes an error, it is not a line on a spreadsheet that suffers; it is a person, it is families, it is the parent sitting at the kitchen table staring at a letter from Centrelink—it is the quiet humiliation of being told you owe money you don't have and never should have owed. These mistakes go to the heart of something bigger than administration; they go to the social contract itself—the promise that our institutions will deal with people fairly and lawfully and that government will take responsibility when it falls short.”
“Australians should never be punished for seeking in good faith the help that their government offers them to manage life's challenges. Good government exists to lend a hand, not to turn that hand against the people it serves. Yet, through the bitter experience of robodebt, Australians have seen too clearly what happens when that principle is betrayed. Thousands of people were treated not as citizens entitled to fairness but as suspects to be pursued.”
“We've also cut the cost of medicines, reducing the PBS co-payment to $25 from January 2026 and saving Australians over $200 million a year on prescriptions. This is what a government that believes in Medicare looks like. Where the Liberals froze, we funded. Where they cut, we rebuilt. Where they put up barriers, we are breaking them down. That is because Medicare in our community keeps kids healthy, older Australians independent and families secure in the knowledge that their government has their back. That is the promise of Medicare, that is the Labor difference and that is why only a Labor government will always protect and strengthen Medicare.”
“As the member for Lalor mentioned, just a few weeks ago Craigieburn Medical and Dental Centre, in my electorate, announced it will move to 100 per cent bulk-billing for medical visits. That's a big win for our community. It means families don't have to worry about gap payments or putting off care because of cost. We're backing that up with 90 Medicare urgent care clinics already open nationwide, exceeding our initial promise of 50, with another 47 on the way this financial year. I'm proud to have announced a full Medicare mental health centre in my community to roll out more places that locals can go for free public mental health care backed by Medicare. This is in stark contrast to their plan to drive up gap fees and make waitlists longer.”
“From 1 November, Labor is expanding bulk-billing incentives to every Australian—by the end of this week—and creating a new bulk-billing incentive program, giving practices that bulk-bill every patient an additional 12.5 per cent incentive payment. This reform means that nine out of 10 GP visits will be bulk-billed by 2030, and around 4,800 clinics will be fully bulk-billed—triple the number from when Labor came to office. Importantly, this isn't just good for patients but also good for doctors. A metro GP who bulk-bills every visit will earn $5,300 more than a mixed billing GP delivering the same number of services, and in rural areas that figure rises to nearly $24,000. We see the difference every day in Calwell.”
“The Albanese Labor government is proud to be delivering the single-largest investment in Medicare history: $8.5 billion to deliver 18 million additional bulk-billed GP visits every year across the country; hundreds of new nursing scholarships; and thousands more doctors through the largest GP training program in our history. In 2023 we tripled the bulk-billing incentive and delivered the largest investment in bulk-billing in Australia's history. More than nine in 10 visits for concession cardholders and children under 16 are now bulk-billed, with 6.5 million extra bulk-billed visits in the last year alone.”