Minister Butler doorstop, Melbourne – 5 December 2025

MARK BUTLER, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGEING, MINISTER FOR DISABILITY AND THE NDIS: In five days’ time, Australia's world leading social media laws take effect. This is going to be a huge improvement to the mental health of young Australians. As the Health Minister, I can tell you I'm deeply worried about what these technologies are doing to the mental health of young Australians, to their learning behaviours, to their acquisition of social skills. There is nothing more important from the point of view of the mental health of young Australians that these laws work.
 
And we've seen some reports out this morning that some of the age verification technology being used by some of the big platforms might not be working. We send this very clear message to Snapchat, to Instagram and to other providers, it is their responsibility to make sure that these laws work. We know that technology exists, the responsibility to enforce that technology lies with them. They've got five days to get their act together, and if they don't get their act together, they know that they are potentially up to fines of up to $50 million. I’ll take questions.
 
JOURNALIST: Minister, are you worried that this policy is stumbling at the first hurdle if these teenagers are finding a way to skirt through the ban?
 
BUTLER: No, we've been working both through the Government and through the eSafety Commission very closely with the platforms. We know some of them are already turning off the access that under 16-year-olds have to their social media platforms. We also know that the age verification technology works, it exists, and it should be implemented properly by the platform. Having these reports about individuals not necessarily having their technology work is an important wake-up up call to these platforms. They've got five days before these laws start. We are absolutely determined to make sure they work. That determination is backed up with very serious fines for platforms who don't enforce it.
 
JOURNALIST: And will there be consequences for these platforms if they aren't able to crack down on it?
 
BUTLER: There are, because there's no excuse. We know that technology exists. The responsibility is on the platforms who implement the technology.
 
JOURNALIST: Can I just ask you on another matter, the AMA private health report card. It's found that Australians are paying more for private health insurance and getting less value in return. Is that a sign that the private health sector is not fit on purpose?
 
BUTLER: We work very hard to make sure that the annual increase to private health insurance premiums is kept at the absolute minimum necessary to keep a viable sector. Over the course of my time as Health Minister the increase was of average only a little above 3 per cent at a time of very high inflation and a time where other insurance products are increasing by double digits. We're doing the right thing by consumers and patients. We're making sure that the increases that insurers may be seeking initially through the insurance increase premium are knocked down, have the tyres kicked on them and are brought to the absolute minimum.
 
JOURNALIST: Do you think this report card indicates that there’s more still needs to be done?
 
BUTLER: We know that the cost of private health insurance is a very significant cost on households. Millions of households take out private health insurance to effectively give them the sort of confidence and support they need, particularly if they're facing very serious health issues. That's why we put so much effort into making sure that the yearly increases are the minimum possible.
 
JOURNALIST: The AMA has also again called for the Federal Government to mandate insurers return 90 per cent of their premiums to consumers in the form of benefits. Will you back this?
 
BUTLER: We've made it very clear to insurers over the last 12 months that we expect more of the revenue that they earn from] the millions of households who take out private health insurance to be returned in services. We don't want it to go into profits or the management expenses for these big insurers. We expect it to go back to hospital services that deliver better health for patients.
 
We've seen increases over the course of the 12 months since I made that position very clear. I've said if I don't continue to see those increases then we will consider our legal options to mandate them.
 
JOURNALIST: Just on bulk billing, Minister, what changes are you considering to lower out of pocket costs to see specialists?
 
BUTLER: We're starting to see really terrific results from our bulk billing investments in general practice. Those latest investments took effect on 1 November, so only last month, but there were 11 million free visits to the GP last month, compared to 7 million the month before. Last month an additional 4 million free visits to the GP because of our investments, making a huge difference to the access to healthcare and affordability.
 
But I know that the access and affordability for non-GP specialist care is getting out of control. I've made it really clear to doctors' groups that from my point of view, all options to start to get that back under control are on the table.