The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) s19(2) Exemptions Initiative was established in 2006 with the aim of improving access to primary care services in rural and remote areas. It enables this by allowing approved sites to claim Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) payments for services provided in state and territory run services such as hospital emergency departments and community clinics.
In July 2025, Nous Group was engaged by the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing to undertake an independent evaluation of the initiative to assess how well it was performing against its stated objectives.
The evaluation also considered the initiative’s place and future in the context of broader health sector reforms, including how changes to funding mechanisms could address thin markets and improve access to primary care services in rural and remote areas.
A broad range of stakeholders were consulted as part of the evaluation, including Commonwealth, state and territory governments, health services and other primary care stakeholders.