What the budget means for the bush
All Australians have an equal right to quality and timely healthcare, including rural Australians. The AMA looks forward to working with governments and other stakeholders to increase access to healthcare for rural Australia through the implementation of this week’s budget.
People in remote, regional and rural Australia face enormous challenges accessing health care due to geographical distance. Medical workforce shortages are worse in rural areas, with only a small proportion of new medical graduates choosing a career in rural general practice.
The government’s investment in general practice in the 2023–24 budget will make it a more attractive career path for medical students to choose the specialty whose existing workforce is rapidly ageing and shrinking.
Rural and regional communities will particularly benefit from the $3.5 billion allocated for the tripling of bulk billing incentives. From 1 November bulk billing incentives for rural and regional areas will increase as follows for the most common GP consultation items other than a Level A:
- MMM2 - $10.05 to $31.40
- MMM3 - $10.65 to $33.35
- MMM4 - $10.65 to $33.35
- MMM5 - $11.35 to $35.40
- MMM6 - $11.95 to $37.40
- MMM7 - $12.70 to $39.65
The Single Employer Model (SEM) will be expanded to cover another 10 trial sites — something the AMA had been advocating for. By providing GP Registrars with guaranteed income and entitlements such as annual leave, parental leave, sick leave and other remuneration and benefits received by doctors working in hospital settings.
$34.6 million has also been set aside to support international medical graduates to work in primary care and remain in smaller regional communities.
