‘One GP can make a significant difference’

With major health changes rolling out since the 2025 Federal Election, GPs continue to hold a central role in advocating for their profession by building relationships with local decisionmakers.
 
The RACGP’s GP Advocate Network supports members to help shape local, state and national health policy through its training, with 151 members having joined the network across Australia. 
 
One of those is Dr Jennie Wright, practice partner at Adelaide’s Bayside Family Medical and Musculoskeletal Practice and a GP Advocate for the Federal Electorate of Hindmarsh, which is represented by Minister for Health and Ageing Mark Butler. 
 
As part of GP small focus groups, she has met with Minister Butler to discuss various issues, from payroll tax to aged care incentives.

While Dr Wright says the Minister listened and considered some of her ideas, she sees herself as part of a collective. 
 
‘I’m just one of many people who are trying to do small things here and there,’ she told newsGP.  
 
‘Sometimes saying the right thing to the right person at the right time can be helpful.
 
‘I can’t change everything, but if there is [a policy] coming up and I think it is really not okay, I would work towards doing something about it.’ 
 
When GPs are given a platform to advocate for their profession so that policymakers can hear directly from them, Dr Wright says much-needed reform happens. One example is the payroll tax advocacy the RACGP has committed to over recent years.  
 
‘My practice certainly did a lot to try and reduce the impact of that, as did a lot of other people,’ Dr Wright said. 
 
‘Because that was a major change that would have made a lot of practices go broke if something was not modified to reduce the impact.   
 
‘In the past when I’ve done some low-key political advocacy such as through patient petitions and galvanising opinions, getting people talking and getting that to the right people, I feel I’ve been able to make a difference to make general practice better.  
 
‘And while they may be small things, it has made me realise that one person can make a difference by talking to people who can more directly make a difference – sharing information can make a positive impact.’ 
 
Bulk-billing incentives have been a major item on the general practice agenda since the landmark reform kicked in last November, with widespread views on the benefits and challenges it would bring to many practices.
 
While the RACGP supports better access to care for patients, it raises concerns around a one-size-fits-all model, instead supporting billing autonomy to ensure financial viability for practices.
 
Echoing those concerns, Dr Wright recognises that while her practice currently operates under a sustainable mixed-billing model, not all practices can afford to do the same. 
 
‘At our practice we bulk bill pensioners, healthcare card holders and kids, and anyone we know is doing it tough at the moment, but we don’t bulk bill everybody,’ she said. 
 
‘If Gina Reinhardt came in, well we wouldn’t be bulk billing her – it’s not sustainable for us, or for the country as a whole, to have millionaires being bulk billed. 
 
‘If we’re going to be able to attract good doctors to our practice and have them stay, they need to be able to practise good medicine and earn a decent amount of money, which means either not bulk billing everybody, or the Government funding bulk billing better. 
 
‘The 12.5% [incentive payment] is nice, but in order to be able to attract good registrars to stay in disadvantaged suburbs or anywhere offering bulk billing, it does need to be better funded for the doctors to be able to run a general practice, to keep the practice viable and open in this suburb.’
 
With local ties to Australia’s leading health policy maker, Dr Wright would like Minister Butler to ensure our healthcare system learns from the reported failings of the United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS) when it comes to ‘universal access’ to healthcare. 
 
‘If you create a universal system on a limited budget where everybody is being bulk billed, it is not sustainable,’ she said.  
 
‘When, on top of this, the population is encountering systemic top-down disrespect for the value of the specialty of general practice, morale plummets, and good doctors leave the system.
 
‘When we look at what’s happening with the NHS where it’s completely free, and then in the United States, where it’s not accessible to many, we’ve got a pretty nice middle road here in Australia.’
 
But, Dr Wright sees a problem with the current system and has a proposed solution. 
 
‘Equity in healthcare would benefit from a third income bracket, which is the “working poor” bracket, for better incentives to bulk bill,’ she said. 
 
‘The working poor are those who are not poor enough to qualify for a healthcare card, but they’re not wealthy,’ she said. 
 
‘And if they have three kids and have to pay out-of-pocket fees for all three kids who are sick, that’s really tough for some people on low income. 
 
‘We need a “halfway” card, so the truly wealthy are not bulk billed, but the working poor can get a better rebate or a bulk-billed subsidy for care.  
 
‘We need to find a better way to make universal healthcare access workable and not go down the NHS road.’ 
 
Dr Wright plans to put forward her suggestion to Minister Butler.
 
‘It’s awesome to be in Minister Butler’s electorate and have that capacity to talk to him ... the next big thing is getting that idea over,’ she said. 
 
‘We’ve got to advocate for ourselves and our patients, which means practice sustainability.’ 
 
RACGP members interested in joining the GP Advocate Network can find out more online. 

The RACGP’s new Advocacy Plan will be launched in early 2026. 
 
Log in below to join the conversation.

bulk billing general practice sustainability GP advocacy healthcare policy healthcare reform Mark Butler