The Albanese Labor Government\u2019s 2024-25 Budget failed to address the urgent health challenges facing Australians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Primary Healthcare<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once again, the Government put forward a shallow package of measures to \u2018strengthen Medicare\u2019, but what they are hiding from Australians is that GP bulk billing has plummeted by 11% under their watch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over this financial year alone, the rate has dropped 4% despite the Government spending millions of taxpayer dollars on tripling the bulk billing incentive and on their unproven Urgent Care Clinics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shadow Minister for Health, Senator Anne Ruston highlighted how we have seen more than 3 million less GP attendances across Australia, as it becomes harder and more expensive to see a doctor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPrimary care has literally never been more expensive, with Medicare currently covering the lowest percentage of GP fees on record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBy ignoring the urgent need to address severe GP workforce shortages, the Budget does not provide the reform need to ensure Australians have timely and affordable access to a doctor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis will only put further pressure on Australia\u2019s struggling hospital system, as this primary care crisis pushes patients towards emergency departments,\u201d Senator Ruston said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That is why the Coalition has put forward our plan to incentivise more junior doctors to pursue a career as a General Practitioner and safeguard Australians\u2019 healthcare access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The package will invest $400 million to provide junior doctors with direct financial incentive payments, assistance with leave entitlements and support for pre-vocational training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This will ensure junior doctors who pursue training as a GP in the community are not financially worse off compared to doctors who remain in the hospital environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A strong pipeline of home-trained GP graduates is critical to deliver essential healthcare to all Australians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mental Health<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Australia is facing a mental health crisis. The Budget handed down on Tuesday night has completely ignored the urgency of this fact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Albanese Government has failed to ensure that Australians can access the specialised mental health treatment they need, particularly for those suffering from more complex or chronic mental health conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
500 days before the Budget, the Government cut the Better Access initiative, ripping away access to Medicare-subsidised psychology services from more than 240,000 vulnerable Australians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Budget did not even try to make up for this cruel cut to mental health support for Australians with chronic mental health conditions,\u201d Senator Ruston said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHidden in the Budget papers was also a decision to abolish the National Mental Health Commission, including the National Suicide Prevention Office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is concrete proof that this government does not consider mental health a national priority.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the Opposition Leader Peter Dutton reiterated in the Budget-in-Reply, an elected Coalition Government will restore the number of Medicare-subsidised psychological sessions from 10 to 20 on a permanent basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Australians facing complex mental health challenges deserve the full level of support that has been recommended for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Women\u2019s Health<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Coalition has welcomed the Government\u2019s investment in longer consultations for women suffering from endometriosis and pelvic pain, which they have acknowledged builds on the significant work of the Coalition in this critical area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But more needs to be done to support women\u2019s health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the Opposition Leader has committed, we will continue to support measures and develop policy in this area, particularly in primary care and for menopause and peri-menopause.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Albanese Labor Government\u2019s 2024-25 Budget failed to address the urgent health challenges facing Australians. Primary Healthcare Once again, the Government put forward a shallow package of measures to \u2018strengthen Medicare\u2019, but what they are hiding from Australians is that GP bulk billing has plummeted by 11% under their watch. Over this financial year alone, … Continue reading “Urgent health challenges ignored by Labor’s budget”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aussie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26750"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26750\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26751,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26750\/revisions\/26751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}