Media Release: Another Cleanbill Report Confirms It Has Never Been Harder or More Expensive to See a Doctor

The findings of the 2025 Cleanbill Blue Report released today are damning - Under the Albanese Labor Government, bulk billing is going backwards as out-of-pocket healthcare costs are going up.

Bulk billing has collapsed under Labor, despite all of Labor’s disingenuous rhetoric. As the report states, “rates have continued to slide, with almost 80% of available Australian GP clinics no longer offering bulk billing to adult patients.”

According to the findings, the national rate of clinics that will bulk bill new adult patients without a concession card has decreased over the past year to 20.7% in 2025.

This concerning downward trend adds to data from the Department of Health, which shows that the overall GP bulk billing rate, including concessional patients, has decreased by 11% under the Albanese Government.

At the same time, out-of-pocket costs for Australians who cannot access bulk billing have risen by more than 4% in the past year alone to $43.38 on average in 2025.

This adds further stress to household budgets in the middle of Labor’s cost-of-living crisis, forcing people to make the difficult choice between going to see a doctor or paying the bills. Concerningly, more than 1.5 million Australians avoided seeing a GP in 2023-24 due to cost concerns – a shocking 25% increase in just one year.

Shadow Minister for Health, Senator Anne Ruston said that it has literally never been harder or more expensive to see a doctor than under the Albanese Labor Government.

“Australians are seriously feeling the impact of this government’s failures every time they go to pay the bill at their doctor’s reception desk,” Senator Ruston said.

“It is unacceptable that more and more Australians are being forced to avoid essential healthcare because they just cannot afford it under Labor. 

“This poses a serious risk for the health of all Australians and for our hospital systems, which we know are already overrun.”

The Coalition has already announced that we will invest in women’s health, including specialist cancer nurses to support Australians with Ovarian Cancer; we will double the number of Medicare mental health sessions available, after Labor ripped away this critical support from 240,000 Australians; and we have committed $400 million to grow a strong pipeline of home-trained GPs, which we know is critical to addressing Labor’s primary care crisis.

This investment will provide financial incentives for junior doctors to choose to train as a GP in the community. As the Cleanbill report makes clear, ensuring the availability of local doctors right now is a necessity. 

The Coalition is focused on ensuring all Australians have timely and affordable access to healthcare.

ENDS

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