In response to recent rises in the number of Australians delaying or deferring health care, a new public information campaign will support Australians to know how they can access affordable health care.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 3 in 10 Australians delayed or did not go to their GP, when they needed to, during the 2022-23 financial year.
Twice as many Australians delayed or deferred seeing a GP because of cost in 2022-23, with 7 per cent of people doing so, compared to 3.5 per cent in 2021-22.
The campaign highlights a range of new benefits available through Medicare that are already helping support access to affordable care, including:
- the growing network of Medicare Urgent Care Clinics, where Australians can walk in and get bulk billed urgent care, seven days a week, open early to late, without waiting hours in a busy hospital emergency department.
- enhanced mental health support, including the growing network of Medicare Mental Health Centres that provide free mental health support for everyone who walks in the door, no appointment or referral needed.
- more available bulk billing at your local GP, through the largest investment in bulk billing in the history of Medicare, which has delivered an additional 103,000 free GP visits each week, on average.
The campaign will include advertising across a range of media, with information translated in up to 7 languages and supporting information available in 15 languages, including materials for First Nations Australians.
