RACGP unveils 19-point plan for general practice shake-up

A moderate investment with a major impact: that’s how RACGP President Dr Michael Wright describes the college’s detailed plan for accessible general practice care, which was unveiled in Canberra on Tuesday.
 
Alongside a delegation of around 20 GPs and advocates from across the country, Dr Wright used the annual GPs@Parliament gathering to urge politicians to back the RACGP’s 2025 Federal Election Platform.
 
The 19-point plan, now published in full detail for the first time, sets out a range of significant and tangible new initiatives.

However, the RACGP said it will continue to support practices’ autonomy in setting their own billing policies, with the campaign focusing on the need for Medicare investment to reduce out-of-pocket costs and increase bulk billing for patients who need it. 
 
The RACGP is calling for an extension of the tripled bulk-billing incentive to include all patients under the age of 35.
 
It is a move designed to address a growing trend of younger people avoiding care in a cost-of-living crisis, with the college saying the change will create 2.2 million additional GP appointments and save young Australians $27.8 million each year.
 
It also reiterates previous calls, including support for 1500 more GP training places over five years and funding to increase exposure to rural general practice for urban GPs.
 
The plan highlights the need for a 40% MBS rebate boost for longer consultations, saying this change will halve out-of-pocket costs for people who are not bulk billed, dropping them from $59 to $25 per person for appointments longer than 20 minutes.
 
‘For a moderate investment we can have a major impact in improving the healthcare of our nation,’ Dr Wright told newsGP.


The RACGP attended a series of meeting inside Canberra’s Parliament House as part of its platform launch. (Image: Jake Pinskier)
 
According to independently verified analysis assessing the likely impact of the college’s initiatives, the investment would boost the bulk-billing rate back up to 85%, with 6.2 million extra bulk-billed appointments annually.
 
On Tuesday, the Federal Health and Aged Care Minister Mark Butler also highlighted the impact of the tripling of the bulk billing incentive for children and concession card holders introduced under the current Government.
 
Minister Butler said the policy had allowed around six million more bulk-billed appointments from its introduction in November 2023 until the end of December 2024, boosting the rate up 1.9 percentage points to 77.5% overall.
 
‘That is making a meaningful difference, but we know we need to do more to strengthen Medicare,’ he said.
 
The RACGP’s analysis, meanwhile, estimates the investment into the GP workforce with more training places would enable 5.2 million more consultations per year.
 
Dr Wright said a core part of the advocacy for GPs is the call for boosting Level C and D rebates, which he views as inadequate and a significant factor in rising out-of-pocket costs.
 
‘The biggest impact for GPs would be felt around funding for longer consultations if there is a 40% increase for longer consults to better support us to deliver chronic and complex care,’ he said.  
 
‘Currently Medicare is a barrier to providing that because it funds shorter consultations at a greater rate.
 
‘Fixing that will go a long way to improving access for patients with chronic care, but also supporting the GPs who are doing that care.’
 
He also said putting the policy in place will particularly benefit female GPS, who spend more time with patients than male GPs on average.
 
The measures in the RACGP plan, which are fully costed, also include boosting patient rebates for mental health consultations by 25%, with many GPs reporting mental health as one of the most common reasons for presentation.
 
The plan describes general practice funding as ‘the most cost-effective investment we can make in our health system and the health of Australians’, with an estimated $1.60 in benefits returned for every dollar invested.
 
Around half a billion dollars per year would be saved by reducing hospitalisations and emergency visits and improving health, it says.
 
The plan has already attracted widespread media coverage, with Dr Wright and other members of the RACGP board presenting the initiatives to reporters, as well as to politicians across the political spectrum during their time in Canberra.
 
‘For too long, Medicare rebates have been underfunded, and there was a Medicare freeze for nearly 10 years,’ Dr Wright told journalists at a press conference on Tuesday morning.
 
‘What that means is that the costs of providing care haven’t kept pace with what the Medicare rebate has provided, and it’s been harder for GPs to bulk-bill, and more patients are facing out-of-pocket costs, and this has worsened during our cost-of-living crisis.’
 
He said that despite Australia’s ‘excellent health system’, spiralling costs have reduced access to general practice care and made visits to hospitals more likely.
 
According to the most recent annual Patient Experience Survey carried out by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, those aged 25–34 years old are most affected by this trend, with 15.4% saying they delayed GP care due to costs compared to 10.2% for the previous year.
 
‘Investing in general practice care is investing in the health and wellbeing of all of Australia,’ Dr Wright said.
 
‘Specialist GPs keep our population healthy. We manage chronic health conditions, we increase health prevention measures and health promotion, and this takes the pressure off the rest of the health system.
 
‘Having an ongoing relationship with your GP is life changing, and the benefits of continuity of care have been proven internationally and in Australia everyone needs affordable access to general practice services.
 
‘And we’re calling on all sides of politics to support this plan.’
 
The RACGP’s full 19-point plan is split into two categories – making general practice more affordable and making general practice more accessible.
 
Making general practice more affordable:

• 40% increase to all Medicare rebates for Level C and Level D GP consultations
• 25% increase to Medicare rebates for GP mental health items
• Extend the tripled bulk-billing incentive to Australians 34 years and under
• Expand MBS health assessment items to include women’s health issues
• Better support mothers and babies for pre-conception to postnatal care, five identified phases for up to five years via MyMedicare registration
• Increase the Medicare patient rebate for introduction/insertion of an IUD (item 35503) to $222.65
• Introduce an MBS rebate ($200) for iron infusions and related consultations for those experiencing chronic and clinical iron deficiency

• Fund the GP Attraction Incentive including a commencement incentive, parental and study leave
• Boost funding to support an additional 100 participants per year in the AGPT Program (1,500 over five years)
• Link Commonwealth Supported Places funding (365 places per annum) for medical degree places to general practice graduate outcomes
• ‘Pathways to Rural’ program funding to increase exposure to rural general practice for urban GPs by facilitating locum opportunities
• Double the planned investment in the WIP-PS to $712 million over four years
• Target additional Workforce Incentive Program funding to pharmacists working in general practice
• Increase the number of medicines in the Prescriber’s Bag
• Establish a national practice-based research network
• Establish a clinical governance taskforce to develop and test models of MDCTs in general practice
• Establish a Taskforce to harmonise the Drugs and Poisons legislation, including expanding the range of medicines that GPs can initiate and/or continue
• Develop a tool for monitoring and measuring racism in general practice and primary healthcare
• Fully fund the implementation of the National Health and Climate Strategy

Federal Election MBS Medicare RACGP advocacy