Radio interview with Minister Butler, Radio National AM – 23 February 2026

MELISSA CLARKE, HOST: Bulk billing rates have increased since the Federal Government put in place new incentives for GPs to not charge patients extra fees. But it's a mixed picture around the country, with bulk billing rates still lagging in some states and territories. The Federal Minister is Mark Butler. Minister, thanks for joining us on AM.
 
MARK BUTLER, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGEING, MINISTER FOR DISABILITY AND THE NDIS: Thanks, Mel.
 
CLARKE: Now, first, we just heard about the case of a gynaecologist in Melbourne who was performing endometriosis surgeries when pathology results didn't show signs of it. What can the Federal Government do to help protect patients from circumstances like this?
 
BUTLER: Firstly, can I say I've read some of the testimony and it is some of the most distressing testimony I've ever read. It made me physically sick to read some of it, just a series of appalling cases. Obviously, there have been referrals to federal authorities about this individual doctor. I've also written, though, to the Victorian Health Minister to see whether Safer Care Victoria, which oversees clinical governance of hospitals in that jurisdiction, needs to have a look at the hospitals because it was clear that there were complaints made about this doctor over a series of some years, but he continued to practice.  Those investigations, those complaints obviously have to run their course, but I just feel the deepest, deepest sympathy for these young women.
 
CLARKE: Now, I want to talk to you about bulk billing rates. We have seen rates increase over the last three months since the government boosted incentives for GPs to bulk bill all of their patients. National bulk billing rates are now 81.4 per cent. How long will it take to get them to 90 per cent?
 
BUTLER: We've said over the course of the coming years - but I have to say we're well ahead of schedule. We said that by 2028, we thought there'd be 3600 practices bulk billing all of their patients all of the time. We're already over 3400, so we're well ahead of schedule on that. The really pleasing thing about the figures over the last few months is the big increase in bulk billing for people who don't have the benefit of a concession card. For pensioners and concession cardholders, bulk billing is now back over 92 per cent. But we'd seen it slide for middle Australia, people who are not necessarily on good incomes but don't have the benefit of a concession card. And those rates are up 8 per cent in just three months.
 
CLARKE: You've said it's ahead of schedule. So when is it scheduled to reach 90 per cent?
 
BUTLER: By the end of the decade.
 
CLARKE: End of the decade?
 
BUTLER: Yeah.
 
CLARKE: It's a pretty mixed picture across jurisdictions. In WA, bulk billing’s only at 73.5 per cent. In the ACT, 53.8 per cent. That is a very long way from 90 per cent. What can you do to help those jurisdictions specifically?
 
BUTLER: ACT is a particularly bad jurisdiction for bulk billing, for pensioners as well as people who don't have a concession card. And we've taken a decision we think we need to shake the market up in the ACT.  We'll be funding the opening of new bulk building practices to introduce competition into a market that doesn't have enough of it. Some other jurisdictions as well, Perth and parts of Tasmania, rural Tasmania is doing very well. Hobart is a little lower than I would have liked. And also the Hunter Valley and Newcastle have lower bulk billing rates than the national average as well. We're going to take a market by market approach to this and have a look at ways in which we can stimulate the competition we need.
 
CLARKE: Would you fund clinics in those areas like Hobart and the Hunter like you intend to do in the ACT?
 
BUTLER: We're looking at it very closely, particularly the Hunter and Newcastle, which has been particularly stubborn in its bulk billing rates. But for other markets, we're going to have a little bit of a longer look than three or four months and see how it develops. Certainly, they're all moving in the right direction, including in Perth, for example. But we'd certainly like to see a bigger increase in bulk billing rates for those markets where people haven't enjoyed the same access that some other parts of Australia have.
 
CLARKE: Mark Butler, thanks very much for joining me.
 
BUTLER: Thanks, Mel.
 
CLARKE: And Mark Butler is the Federal Health Minister.