Two days out from the election and one verdict is in: Australia’s health system won’t see any revolutionary changes no matter who wins power.
The AMA’s 2025 Federal Election report card examined each of the health policy promises made by the Liberal/National Coalition, the Australian Labor Party, and the Australian Greens. Nobody came close.
The doctors’ lobby group pitted each announcement against its pillars of general practice, public hospitals, private health, a health system for all, and a health system for the future.
Overall, while there were significant investments in bulk-billing incentives, there were a lot of missed opportunities.
Nothing major to clear the logjam
Of particular concern was the lack of investment in public hospital funding. Unless there is significant reform, hospitals will continue to be perennially overcrowded, impacted by under-resourcing, ambulance ramping and exit block.
The AMA were impressed by the Greens’ commitment of $30.6 billion in additional funding through the National Health Reform Agreement for public hospitals with a 50/50 funding split as well as lifting the 6.5% cap on growth cap.
Other promises weren’t as impressive.
The ALP had already agreed to a one-year extension of the National Health Reform Agreement including top-up funding, had committed to increasing their share of public hospital funding to 45%, and lifting the 6.5% cap.
Although the Coalition has committed to the $1.7 billion funding top-up with the one-year extension of the NHRA, they made no other commitments to NHRA funding.
“While there were some commitments to hospital funding made during the campaign with different states, and funding announcements before the election, the incoming government will need to urgently address the crisis in hospitals by expediting the National Health Reform Agreement,” said AMA federal president Dr Danielle McMullen.
The ALP hopes its investment in urgent care clinics will help ease the pressure on emergency departments. It has promised an additional $644.3 million to establish an additional 50 UCCs across the country. The Greens have promised 1000 free local healthcare centres and the Coalition promised to establish UCCs on a case-by-case basis.
The ALP has also promised $204.5 million to support 24/7 access to national helpline 1800 MEDICARE, which will include after-hours GP telehealth. Neither the Coalition nor the Greens have a similar pitch.
Investments in bulk billing and primary care training
Much of the focus of the election health funding is improving access to primary care, and there won’t be anyone who can argue with that.
Promising GP reforms from the ALP include additional training GP training places, salary incentives for doctors in training who choose general practice and improving working conditions for GPs.
A hefty $7.9 billion investment was made into expanding eligibility for bulk-billing incentives to all Australians with a new Bulk Billing Practice Incentive Program, which was matched by the Coalition.
However, according to the AMA, there are plenty of missed opportunities to change the way we access primary healthcare.
“While we expect this will improve access to health for some more vulnerable people, the opportunity to rethink and redesign our out-of-date Medicare rebate structure has been missed,” said Dr McMullen.
“The AMA’s Modernise Medicare campaign proposes a new seven-tier rebate structure to support patients to spend more time with their GP as part of a comprehensive approach to care, costing $4.5 billion over four years. This will create a Medicare that provides more time, more care, and more health,” she continued.
The future of private health
There have been issues plaguing the private health sector, and the AMA is concerned with the lack of policy from all major parties in this election.
The only policy announced by Labor was enhancing the Medical Cost Finder website to increase non-GP specialist fee transparency, which was matched by the Coalition. It seems all other private health issues were virtually ignored.
“We have seen major issues in the private health system, with private hospitals closing or restricting services; declining rebates as a proportion of premiums, and frequent funding disputes between insurers and hospitals,” Dr McMullen said.
“Current regulatory and legislative frameworks are not fit-for-purpose. The AMA has been calling for a new independent authority that would create a platform for all the key players in the sector to come together and make once-in-a-generation reforms.”
Commitments to improve ill health but not prevent it
In the pillar of a health system for all, the AMA was impressed by funding commitments across the board for mental health packages and lowering of the PBS co-payment.
“We saw some good commitments in women’s health, with Labor locking in its women’s health initiatives in the March budget and the Coalition moving quickly to support these commitments,” Dr McMullen said.
However, it would have liked some more funding for preventative health and some strategies to help address Australia’s rising rates of chronic disease.
“No party has promised a sugar tax, which is an evidence-based policy and was supported by a parliamentary inquiry into diabetes,” she said.
In a system under pressure, we all know the best investment isn’t more band-aid solutions. It’s bold reform, revolutionary change, and fewer people needing care in the first place.
