*Acknowledgement omitted*
As the parliament’s sole pharmacist, I do feel I’m among friends at this conference, which provides an excellent opportunity for collaboration and professional development amongst industry leaders and pharmacy professionals.
Since I spoke with you last year, much has happened, including politically – and particularly in the health space. Health played a pivotal role in the election campaign.
The Australian people have given the Albanese Government a solid mandate to continue to strengthen the health and social systems of care and support – from Medicare to the PBS, to Aged Care, to the National Disability Insurance Scheme. These systems are highly relevant to the pharmacy profession, to our profession, and will become increasingly so as we work together to enhance that role.
The election result told us that when it comes to health the Australian people trusted us, just as they trust our profession when it comes to health care; that pharmacists should be everywhere that medicines are. They trust you. They rely on you. Our ambitious health reform plan was always going to take time, more than one term in office. The election result now gives us that time and a sense of both optimism and purpose about what more can be achieved, realising opportunities that will benefit both patients and healthcare professionals.
Our government, as Minister Butler has said, looks forward to continuing to work with you as essential partners in our health reform journey, a journey that is changing the face of health care, particularly primary care, across the nation. Leading health reform is our cornerstone policy of strengthening Medicare.
In our most recent budget, Labor made the single largest investment in Medicare in more than 40 years. A stronger Medicare will help lift health outcomes in every city, town and region in this country. We're expanding access to frontline healthcare through our growing network of Medicare Urgent Care Clinics. More than 1.5 million Australians have been treated free at one of the existing 87 Medicare Urgent Care Clinics around Australia. And there's more to come. Our government has committed $644 million to open another 50 Medicare Urgent Care Clinics nationally by July next year. When all of these clinics are open, 4 in 5 Australians will live no more than 20 to 30 minutes' drive of a Medicare Urgent Care Clinic.
With the addition of the new clinics, we expect the service to provide free care to around 2 million Australians each year, access that simply was not available. In general practice we're encouraging multidisciplinary team-based care with increased payments to employ more health professionals under the Workforce Incentive Program, boosting funding for general practice to expand their health teams including with clinical pharmacists. In mental health, an area of deep interest to me having worked as a mental health pharmacist, we're investing more than a billion dollars to increase access to free Medicare supported services, putting mental health into the heart of Medicare, mental health services at the centre of communities. In women's health, an unprecedented $793 million will provide more choice, lower costs and better healthcare for Australian women and girls. This includes treatment for uncomplicated UTIs and contraception directly from pharmacies and, of course, our profession will play a pivotal role in this.
Two national trials will see 250,000 concession cardholders receive pharmacy consultations at no cost. Further information on eligibility will be available closer to the start of the trials. This will improve access to treatment for women unable to afford private care, while easing pressure on other healthcare providers nationally – important change, investing in pharmacies, investing in you, investing in Australian healthcare.
Alongside strengthening Medicare, our cheaper medicines initiatives are providing real savings to your patients. As Minister Butler has mentioned, several waves of cheaper medicines have been a help for all Australians wherever they live. These reforms are saving Australians millions of dollars each year, particularly important as many people and families grapple with real cost of living pressures.
Further reduction in the PBS co-payment down to $25 from 1 January next year, on top of the largest cut in PBS history, reducing the safety net threshold and freezing the co-payment for concessional patients – landmark changes. And all welcome, all warmly welcomed by patients and all supported by you.
Bulk billing is Medicare's beating heart and our government has made historic investments in bulk billing. Australians have had an estimated 6.7 million additional GP bulk billed services in 2024–25 – compared to the year before, the incentive was tripled. Expanding bulk billing incentives was a key election commitment and from 1 November this year, all Australians will benefit. Our $7.9 billion investment will improve access to affordable GP visits and support timely and high quality patient care.
We expect an additional 57.6 million GP services will be bulk billed over the next 4 years. Additionally, general practices will also be able to participate in the bulk billing practice incentive program, which will provide an additional 12.5 per cent payment for practices where all patients are bulk billed for eligible services. This includes the most common GP services such as health assessments, mental health treatment items and chronic disease management items.
Yours is very much, or ours is very much an evolving profession as we, together, seek to enhance as a government your role, walking alongside you in providing care to Australians. And, as part of this change, developing, supporting and empowering the pharmacy workforce is absolutely crucial. And our government is committed to all healthcare professionals, including pharmacists, to work to the top of your scope of practice, optimising your full range of skills knowledge expertise and experience.
The strengthening Medicare Task Force report recommended work be undertaken with states and territories to review barriers and incentives for all health practitioners to work to the full scope of practice, and that includes you. We want to use all of your skills and training for the benefits of your patients, yourselves and our communities. As part of the 2023–24 Budget, the government provided $3 million to conduct a review of the scope of health practitioners working in primary care. Health professionals being considered included general practitioners, nurses including nurse practitioners, registered nurses, and enrolled nurses, midwives, allied health practitioners, First Nations health practitioners and workers, paramedics, and pharmacists. Mark Cormack’s final report, as Minister Butler has said, the Unleashing the Potential of our Health Workforce Review is now before our government. Pharmacists, our profession, was among the many groups he consulted with, including state and territory governments, peak bodies, other health professionals, regulators, education and training providers, employers, funders, insurers, professional bodies, and consumers. It was comprehensive. It was thorough. The review concluded that most, if not all, professionals in primary care face restrictions or barriers to working at full scope – something that each of you would experience day to day in your careers.
The report makes 18 recommendations to reduce these barriers. The Primary Care and Workforce Reviews Taskforce has been established to advise the government on how best to respond. I'm very pleased, as Minister Butler has said, that Associate Professor Fei Sim, your National President, is a member of the expert panel supporting the taskforce – an indication of the calibre and experience of those who are turning their minds to this work. And I know the review outcome is something the PSA is particularly interested in.
The role of pharmacy in improving medicine safety continues to grow, supported by the five-year Eighth Community Pharmacy Agreement. The 8CPA will provide 200 to $22.5 billion in dispensing remuneration over its term, including $2.11 billion for the new additional community supply support payment, giving pharmacists more confidence to continue delivering services for their patients. The 8CPA also includes $1.05 billion of funding for 6 community pharmacy programs, including dose administration aids, meds checks, staged supply of medicines, and an increased regional pharmacy maintenance allowance. All 17 other pharmacy programs previously included under the 7CPA will continue to operate with ongoing funding outside the 8CPA. This includes home medicines reviews and residential medication management reviews, rural and remote pharmacy workforce programs, and Indigenous pharmacy workforce programmes.
We are committed to maintaining the highest possible standards for the pharmacy profession. It's a commitment that I know everyone in this room and every member of the PSA shares. To this end, the government has signed a strategic agreement on pharmacists' professional practice standards with the PSA. From July last year, this 5-year agreement is making sure the standards governing pharmacists in Australia remain consistent and fit-for-purpose. The agreement outlines our commitment to support the highest standards of professionalism in the pharmacy sector, including required updates for the standards governing pharmacists in Australia. The PSA will develop, review, and update a number of practice standards, guidelines, codes, and competency frameworks to support community pharmacists to operate to a consistent standard and at the highest level of practise. It's a win-win for pharmacists and patients alike.
The agreement commits to work across the 5-year term, including support for pharmacists to implement the Clinical Governance Principles for pharmacy service requirements. The government is committed to fund the PSA to review and further develop the code of ethics for pharmacists, and I understand that that work has begun.
Pharmacists working on site in residential aged care homes will be welcomed by older Australians in aged care, their families, and carers. Employing an on-site pharmacist in residential aged care homes aims to integrate on-site pharmacists with the healthcare team including GPs, nurses, and community pharmacists, improve medication use and safety, and provide continuity in medication management such as day-to-day reviews of medications and prompt resolution of issues identified. The funding provides for any residential aged care home to have a pharmacist on site at least one day each week. Minister Butler has previously noted that getting the design of the Aged Care On-site Pharmacist initiative right took time. And I certainly join him in thanking Fei and the PSA team for their advocacy and advice on the development of this measure. It couldn't and wouldn't have happened without you.
The National Immunisation Program Vaccination in Pharmacy, the NIPVIP as Minister Butler has dubbed it, initially builds on the other ways we are linking pharmacy and aged care together. We are funding pharmacists to administer free vaccines on the NIP, not only in pharmacies but also in residential aged care and disability homes. This of course follows on from the changes on the 1st of January this year to expand the NIP to pharmacists and have pharmacists finally pay the same rate that a doctor gets to administer a vaccine. A measurable success is that of the over 80 million flu shots so far administered this flu season – more than 1 in 4 are being administered by a pharmacist.
The NIPVIP is a real step forward, providing funding to community pharmacies to administer free vaccines under the NIP with no out-of-pocket expense. Participating pharmacies receive a payment of $19.60 per vaccine administered to individuals aged 5 years and over, whether it's in the pharmacy, residential aged care, or a disability home. The program expansion increases patient access and the affordability of vaccinations to help protect our community – another initiative that's helping address the cost of living pressures.
These initiatives comprise a comprehensive body of health reform for your profession – one that means both change and challenge – delivering more services to more Australians in more ways than you do now, supporting cheaper medicines, enabling pharmacists to practice at their top of scope, funding priority issues for both patients and pharmacists, continually improving medication management and safety, building a regular presence for pharmacists in aged care homes, and promoting the highest professional standards. I am confident you share these objectives in the interests of your patients, our profession, and the country and we’ll continue to build on that incredible trust that Australians have in pharmacists.
I wish you well in your conference. Congratulations and thank you.