A re-elected Albanese Labor Government will build on its historic investment in Medicare to expand the availability of free, urgent care, with a $644 million commitment to open another 50 Medicare Urgent Care Clinics, with more clinics in every state and territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Albanese Labor Government went to the last election promising to open 50 Medicare Urgent Care Clinics, and we have delivered 87 clinics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new clinics will open during the 2025-26 financial year. A full list of the locations of the additional 50 Medicare Urgent Care Clinics is available below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once all of Labor\u2019s clinics are open, 4 in 5 Australians will live within a 20-minute drive of a Medicare Urgent Care Clinic, according to analysis by the Department of Health and Aged Care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All you will need is your Medicare card, not your credit card.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
More than 1.2 million Australians have already been treated at one of Labor\u2019s existing 87 Urgent Care Clinics<\/a>, which provide bulk billed care for urgent but non-life-threatening conditions<\/a>, seven days a week, for extended hours, with no appointment needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Parents and families swear by them: one third of patients are under the age of 15.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Liberals say the Albanese Labor Government\u2019s Urgent Care Clinics are \u201cwasteful spending\u201d. Peter Dutton will close every Medicare Urgent Care Clinic, forcing over a million Australians a year back into the waiting rooms of busy hospital emergency departments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Doctors have embraced the clinics, with a survey finding 7 in 10 GPs support Medicare Urgent Care Clinics<\/a>, and 8 in 10 GPs say they have a positive impact on hospital emergency departments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Around 2 million Australians are expected to make use of an Urgent Care Clinic each year, getting the free urgent care they need, fully bulk billed, without waiting hours in a busy hospital emergency department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This extends Labor\u2019s election commitment to strengthening Medicare, with the single largest investment in Medicare since its creation over 40 years ago:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The $644 million investment for 50 more Medicare Urgent Care Clinics was provisioned for in 2024-25 MYEFO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Video \u2013 Patient case studies<\/a> | Sarah Hunstead\u2019s visit<\/a> | Bhavana\u2019s visit<\/a> \u201cThis announcement of 50 additional Urgent Care Clinics if we are re-elected will provide the urgent care people need \u2013 and all you will need is your Medicare card, not your credit card.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLabor is building Australia\u2019s future with the largest investment in Medicare in over 40 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhether your family needs urgent or ongoing health care, under Labor, Medicare will be there for all Australians, in every community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFour in five Australians will live within a 20-minute drive of a bulk billed Medicare Urgent Care Clinic, once all Labor\u2019s clinics are open.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAustralia’s doctors voted Peter Dutton the worst Health Minister in Medicare history for a reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Liberals had nine years to open Medicare Urgent Care Clinics, and they never opened a single one. Now they call Labor\u2019s clinics \u2018wasteful spending\u2019 and want to close every single one of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMedicare Urgent Care Clinics are an Albanese Government initiative because we believe in Medicare and in free urgent care, fully bulk billed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou can\u2019t trust the Liberals with Medicare: you can\u2019t trust them to open Urgent Care Clinics and you can\u2019t trust them to keep them open.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The locations of the additional 50 Medicare Urgent Care Clinics have been determined according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics Statistical Area Level 3 (SA3) geographic areas. More information on the SA3 locations for the 50 additional Medicare Urgent Care Clinics is available at: https:\/\/www.health.gov.au\/resources\/publications\/locations-of-the-additional-50-medicare-urgent-care-clinics<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n The locations and providers of Medicare Urgent Care Clinics will be determined through independent commissioning processes conducted by Primary Health Networks or state and territory governments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The commissioning process typically involves a competitive open tender or expression-of-interest, to determine the most appropriate private provider to operate the Medicare Urgent Care Clinic in that location.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A re-elected Albanese Labor Government will build on its historic investment in Medicare to expand the availability of free, urgent care, with a $644 million commitment to open another 50 Medicare Urgent Care Clinics, with more clinics in every state and territory. New South Wales: 14 clinics Victoria: 12 clinics Queensland: 10 clinics Western Australia: … Continue reading “Strengthening Medicare: 50 more Medicare Urgent Care Clinics”<\/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-31665","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\/31665","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=31665"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31665\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31666,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31665\/revisions\/31666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Video \u2013 Health professionals explain<\/a> | Inside the Rockhampton Urgent Care Clinic<\/a>
Animated explainer \u2013 When should you visit<\/a> | What do Urgent Care Clinics offer<\/a>
Advertisement \u2013 That\u2019s a case for a Medicare Urgent Care Clinic<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nPrime Minister Anthony Albanese<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Minister for Health and Aged Care, Mark Butler<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Locations of the additional 50 Medicare Urgent Care Clinics<\/h2>\n\n\n\n