Mrs PHILLIPS (Gilmore) (19:00): While living in a regional area of New South Wales, I'm all too aware of how difficult it can be to see a doctor. This government knows that too many Australians are struggling to get in to see a GP. That's why we're strengthening Medicare, and it's why we're doing everything we can to attract, train and retain more doctors, especially in regional areas like Gilmore. We made an election commitment to make it easier for Australians to see a doctor, and that's exactly what we're doing.
The University of Wollongong's Shoalhaven Graduate School of Medicine, located in my electorate of Gilmore, has produced many doctors that continue to live and work in our region. Doctors that study at UOW's Shoalhaven campus are staying on and working as general practitioners in our community and medical specialists at Shoalhaven and Milton Ulladulla hospitals. Former Milton pharmacist Amanda Venables was one of the first graduates from the Shoalhaven school of medicine, and she now works both in a private family medical practice and as an anaesthetist at Shoalhaven and Milton hospitals. As a small-business owner and mum, Dr Venables had long thought about studying medicine, but it wasn't until the training opportunity became available closer to home that her dream career became a reality.
Providing local students with a chance to study and then go on to practice in regional areas benefits the whole community. It provides a much-needed injection of new GPs and also provides patients with a continuity of care that is so important, especially for families and our older residents. This government funds more than $1.9 billion a year for programs that develop the workforce and support more equitable distribution of health professionals to areas of need, especially regional and rural locations. The Gilmore electorate is seeing the benefits of this initiative. In 2024, more than 1,600 doctors accepted a place on a government funded training program to become a GP or rural GP, a 13 per cent increase on the year before. The 2022-23 cohort of 8,356 new doctors was the largest influx of new doctors in more than a decade. Incredibly, that record was broken in 2023-24, when 9,490 new doctors registered to practice.
We're investing in doctors and we're growing other areas of our health system by offering Commonwealth supported university places, which subsidise up to 75 per cent of tuition fees for eligible students studying in a range of courses, including public health, exercise physiology and medical biotechnology. Labor is also offering fee-free TAFE courses providing more training in the areas of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander primary health care, allied health, disability support, mental health, aged care and nursing.
Not only are we training more doctors, nurses and health workers; we're providing better access to their services, particularly in regional areas like Gilmore. In my electorate, we've opened the doors to a new Medicare urgent care clinic in Batemans Bay, Kiama headspace, the South-Eastern Endometriosis and Pelvic Pain Clinic and the Shoalhaven walk-in adult mental health hub. These services are free, which is taking some financial pressure off families who we know are doing it tough. Since opening, more than 7,000 patients sought care at the Batemans Bay urgent care clinic, including Louise, who said she had a great first experience at the urgent care clinic with her toddler. She said the clinic was a great service to have in Batemans Bay. Jane turned up to have her eye checked on a Sunday, and, after thinking she would have to wait for hours in emergency, she was seen immediately by a nurse and then a doctor and sent on her way with the appropriate scripts. Best of all, her visit was all bulk-billed, and on a weekend—how good is that?
The people of Batemans Bay are loving their clinic, and the 2024 Albanese budget is investing a further $227 million so thousands more Australians can get the free urgent care they need, with another 29 Medicare urgent care clinics offering walk-in care seven days a week over extended hours, completely bulk-billed. There have been almost 400,000 visits to Medicare UCCs across Australia, and almost one in three visits have been for children under the age of 15. As a mum of four, I know all too well what weekends with kids can be like, with little ones falling off bikes, footy bumps and twisted ankles on the soccer field. These clinics are proving just fabulous for families, in terms of time, convenience and affordability. This government is delivering on its promise to provide more doctors, more health workers, and more accessible, affordable health care for all Australians.
