Over 5 million additional doctor visits were bulk-billed over the past year, driven by increased government incentives that have boosted bulk billing rates in every state and territory.

The boost followed a historic investment in bulk billing by the Federal Government in November 2023, marking the largest funding increase in Medicare’s history.

As a result, by October 2024, 77.3. per cent of all GP visits nationwide were bulk-billed—up 1.7 percentage points compared to the same month last year, prior to the funding injection.

This investment now supports an additional 103,000 bulk-billed GP visits each week, including 2.2 million visits in rural and regional areas since November 2023.

Bulk billing rates are especially up for pensioners, concession card holders, and families with children under 16, with 90 per cent of GP visits for children in this age group being bulk-billed last year.

Tasmania saw the largest increase in bulk billed visits, from 66.3 per cent of total GP visits to 71.9 per cent, and the Northern Territory saw the second highest rise from 71.5 per cent to 76 per cent while , the ACT recorded the lowest rise

Minister for Health and Aged Care, Mark Butler, said the investment was the largest in the program’s history and builds on Labor’s commitment to Medicare since they introduced the national scheme 40 years ago.

“If we’re going to strengthen Medicare after a decade of cuts and neglect, we need more doctors and we need more bulk billing,” he said

“Although we’re not out of the woods yet and there is a lot of work still to do, we are seeing things turn around in those areas that we need.

“We’ve got more doctors, we’ve got more bulk billing, and we’ve got Urgent Care Clinics that have already seen more than 850,000 patients, all fully bulk billed.”

Healthcare professionals have praised the incentive and a recent survey by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners revealed that more doctors now say they are bulk billing patients more often.