Australia has just poured billions of extra dollars into general practice, but ‘GP deserts’ – the communities with the fewest GP services per person – are being left further behind.
The new spending has boosted bulk-billing rates but also deepened fundamental problems with how we fund GPs.
The spending surge has strengthened incentives for GPs to have quick consultations with their patients, sent money to parts of Australia that didn’t need it, and left behind areas that need more funding the most.
It’s time for the government to start fixing the GP funding model, not just pouring more into it.
The bulk-billing incentive – a bonus the federal government pays GPs when they don’t charge patients a fee – has been supercharged twice in recent years.
In 2023, it was tripled for all but the shortest general face-to-face consultations. Then from November last year, all patients became eligible, not just children and concession card holders.
The result has been a massive increase in spending: the incentive now costs the equivalent of $2.8 billion a year. And the extra spending has boosted bulk-billing: early signs suggest the national rate has risen by 4.3 percentage points.
But the share of bulk-billing incentive spending going to wealthier areas has increased, at the expense of the poorest.
‘GP deserts’ – areas in the bottom 5 per cent for services per person – have actually had a fall in service levels. They’ve also had the smallest increases in bulk-billing.
Two policy reforms are needed.
First, the federal government should offer GP clinics an alternative to pure fee-for-service funding. Clinics should be able to opt in to blended funding: a combination of fees for each visit and a flexible budget for each enrolled patient.
This would level the playing field for clinics caring for sicker, poorer, and older patients – and it would get taxpayers better bang for their buck by targeting funding where it is most needed.
Second, in the ‘GP deserts’, the federal government should fund Primary Health Networks to close the gaps in care.
The 2026 federal Budget is a chance for the government to start building a GP funding system that sends money where it is needed most.