At a Glance

First Term Wins

A commitment to fix the Medical Costs Finder website

The Medical Costs Finder website is supposed to help you compare fees. However, only 20 doctors across Australia have put their fees on the website. I have been pushing the Government to make some changes. The research shows clearly that costs are lower in areas where prices are visible. As a result, the Government has now committed $7 million to fix up the website and publish what specialists charge for procedures.

I will keep pushing until prices are visible. Crucially, I’ll also be pushing for insurers to publish what they will cover, so people can change doctors or change insurers to get the price they need.

Ending genetic discrimination by life insurers

Did you know life insurance companies can legally treat you differently based on your genetic test results? They can even ask for your results and if you don’t give it to them, they might refuse to insure you.

No one should have to share their test results. Studies show that fear of discrimination is stopping people from getting genetic tests in the first place, especially for things like breast cancer. That’s why, together with Kylea Tink MP, I fought to close this loophole. And we won - the Government will now ban insurers from asking for your genetic test results.

Stopping discrimination against people undertaking treatment for addiction

This term, I negotiated with the Government to amend our health laws so that medicines for addiction are covered by the PBS. Up until that point, those medicines were not covered like blood pressure or heart medications. It meant in many places, it was actually cheaper for people to stay addicted to opioids than move onto treatments. 

As part of negotiations on a related Bill, I was also able to secure more funding for pharmacies in the ACT to provide these treatments.

Paid placements for nurses, midwives and social workers

Together with the crossbench, I pushed for our teachers and future health and social workers to be paid for the thousands of hours they spend during their degrees undertaking placements.

We cannot expect our future health workers to pay the bills, while they are forbidden from working while undertaking placements. It has been burning out the next generation of the professionals that we sorely need. In response to our advocacy, the Government announced it would establish a Paid Placement scheme for nurses, midwives, teachers and social workers. This is a great first step, but it now needs to be expanded to include medical students and allied health workers.

A Centre for Disease Control based in Canberra

There has been fierce competition by the states and territories to host the new Australian Centre for Disease Control. Together with our local health advocacy bodies, I put a case forward to the Government to establish the CDC in Canberra in close proximity to Defence, Health, DFAT and the Parliament.

The Government agreed and I’m looking forward to seeing this new agency draw new skills and health professionals to our city.

A new inquiry into PFAS

PFAS chemicals have caused real harm to the Jervis Bay community and many others. These man-made chemicals don’t break down over time - they stay in our water, our environment, and our bodies. They’ve now been linked to serious health issues, including cancer and heart disease.

I worked with other crossbench senators to set up an inquiry into how widespread PFAS contamination is in Australia and what we can do to fix it. The inquiry is still underway, but we know now that weak laws have let a few big companies pollute our water and put people’s health at risk. If I’m re-elected, I’ll keep pushing for action and real solutions through this inquiry.

Amendments to aged care laws

Throughout this parliamentary term, I have had the opportunity to work with the Canberra community, the Government and the Opposition on securing amendments to our aged care laws, including:

• Protections to stop future governments from watering down nursing requirements in aged care facilities.
• Putting pressure on the ACT Government to speed up aged care assessments, which were taking far too long here in the Capital.
• Greater and more regular reporting around home care package wait times, so that we can better hold the Government accountable over long delays.
• Amending laws to ensure future governments could not raise aged care fees without taking a proposal to the Parliament.
  

What I’m fighting for

A plan that works for the ACT

Canberrans are telling me that a more accessible, affordable healthcare system is one of their top priorities.

Our health system in the ACT is not working the best it can for Canberrans. Across almost every metric, the ACT is an outlier in terms of access and affordability.

From parents who need to leave the Territory to seek help for a sick child, to people having to dip into retirement savings to afford essential care, Canberrans are frustrated by the costs associated with our health system and the lack of options.

While the Government has made some good investments, we know that it won’t significantly improve the situation in Canberra as it won’t address the structural issues locally that impact GP bulk billing and access to other health services.

The status quo simply won’t cut it and below are the policy solutions tailored to the ACT’s specific needs that I will push for if I am returned to the next parliament to make a real difference for Canberrans’ experience of our healthcare system.

Fixing bulk billing so it works for the ACT

Canberrans are finding it harder to access affordable primary healthcare. 

The ACT has the lowest bulk billing rate in the country to see a GP, with just 52.8% of GP visits fully covered, compared to a national average of 77.5%. On average, the gap fee in the ACT is $52.15, well above the national figure of $46.31.

The Albanese Government’s $8.5 billion bulk billing incentive is welcome, but the way it has been structured won’t shift the dial for people here in the ACT. I surveyed every GP practice in the ACT and locals have told me this reform won’t address the structural issues that make bulk billing so hard in our region, including higher staffing costs, higher insurance costs, a lack of doctors and, crucially, financial disincentives for GPs to see patients for the amount of time they need to.

We need Medicare reform that actually boosts the bulk billing rate everywhere, not just in some parts of the country. And that requires reform that values the time GPs spend with patients, while addressing the underlying pressures for practices.

I’ll be pushing for Medicare reform that:

• Significantly lifts the bulk billing rate in the ACT
• Properly values the time spent between patients and GPs.
• Tackles the causes of large insurance costs for GPs in the ACT, which contribute to higher gap fees.
• Frees up GPs from the growing burden of admin so they can see more patients.
• Opens up the higher regional Medicare rebates for the ACT to lower gap fees.
  
  

A plan to grow our health workforce - both here and nationally

Long wait times to see a GP, a psychiatrist, a paediatrician, a surgeon or any specialist are now a regular experience for many Canberrans. We have significant workforce shortages in our region and it is a deep source of frustration for our community.

In fact, the ACT has less GPs per capita (88.9 GPs per 100,000) than even regional Queensland (90.4). And I hear regularly from parents who are having to relocate from Canberra to cities where their children can receive care that’s just not available here.

We cannot have a strong public or private health system for our growing city if we don’t have the workforce to staff it. A strong workforce underpins everything.

That’s why I’ll be pushing for practical reforms to grow our health workforce to meet both national demands, but especially those of our growing city. This looks like:

• More Commonwealth Supported Places at ANU Medical School, so we can train and retain the next generation of Canberra doctors.
• Including medical, psychology and allied health students in the Commonwealth Paid Placement Scheme, so that we stop burning out the next generation of health professionals before they even start practising.
• Investigating specialist training reforms, to ensure we’re training the right specialists in the right places.
• Doing more with the workforce we already have, by backing reforms that give people greater access to nursing services and allied health services.

This is about planning for the health system we’ll need tomorrow and supporting the workforce that delivers it today.

Ensuring the ACT gets its fair share of hospital funding

The Commonwealth and the ACT are supposed to share the load when it comes to the public health system. In December 2023, National Cabinet endorsed the Commonwealth increasing National Health Reform Agreement contributions to 45 per cent over a maximum of a 10-year glide path from 1 July 2025, with an achievement of 42.5 per cent before 2030.

What the data currently shows - and what the ACT Government reports - is that the ACT’s public hospital costs are rapidly increasing, while the Commonwealth’s share has remained pretty flat. In reality, the Commonwealth’s contribution doesn’t come close to the 45% it’s supposed to contribute. This is the case across all jurisdictions, but appears particularly pronounced here in Canberra. 

We are a growing city, supporting an even larger region. We need a fair investment so that our hospitals can provide the services Canberrans rightly expect. We’ll never be Sydney or Melbourne, but it’s not good enough that the ACT’s surgical wait times are the longest in the country and that people struggle to access a paediatrician.

With the hospital agreement up for renegotiation in the next term of parliament, I’ll be backing the ACT to get its fair share; a share that recognises the challenges we face as a small jurisdiction that also supports neighbours in NSW, while allowing us to keep up with demand.

Better protection from high healthcare costs

The ACT has some of the highest out of pocket costs in the country.

Check out the example below. This shows the average out-of-pocket cost for a knee replacement. As you can see, it’s about 4.5x higher than the national average, and way higher than the average for SA and WA.

We also know people pay more across almost every health service, whether that’s for an ultrasound or a psychology appointment. This means some people have to put off having treatments or diagnostic testing altogether. And for people with cancer or chronic conditions these gap fees really start to add up.

For some people, their scans are not even covered by Medicare - and this seems to particularly impact people with cancer who need regular scans to have their cancer monitored or restaged.

We need to ensure people have good safety nets and that Medicare is working for anyone who is going through tough health challenges. 

 If re-elected, I’ll be pushing to:

• Make healthcare prices more transparent and more competitive, so people can make more informed choices on treatment options.
• Reform our national safety nets to ensure they are actually protecting people from high costs.
• Ensure people with cancer can have their scans covered by Medicare.
  

Action on dental care

Over 2 million Australians are putting off dental care because it’s simply too expensive. That’s 17.6% of the population, and it’s rising. For older Australians, it’s even worse - 37% are skipping treatment, despite being more likely to face serious dental issues. 

Poor oral health doesn’t just mean toothache; it’s linked to heart disease, stroke, and poor mental health.

I believe we must expand public dental services - particularly for young people, to prevent poor health, and for seniors, many of whom live on a fixed income and who tell me regularly that they are living with terrible pain in their mouth. We can and should fix this and if re-elected, I plan to advocate for sensible reforms that ensure people aren’t left behind.

Continued advocacy on endometriosis care

Endometriosis is a painful, debilitating condition that affects 1 in 7 people, predominantly women. It’s more common than diabetes, yet remains under-researched, underfunded, and widely misunderstood. Decades of chronic underinvestment have left major knowledge gaps and too few specialists offering best-practice care.

The Albanese Government has made welcome investments, including endo and pelvic pain clinics in the ACT, but we must go further. Women tell me they’re still being misdiagnosed and facing enormous costs just to manage their condition.

If re-elected, I’ll join the Parliamentary Friends of Endometriosis and work with others across the Parliament to push for more action on endo, including greater research funding.

Preventive health

Prevention is the smartest investment in health. For every $1 we spend on prevention, we save $14 down the track. Yet less than 2% of total government spending goes to prevention. Without real investment, we’ll always be playing catch-up. We must go further—but we must also acknowledge that preventing poor health starts outside the health system. That’s why I’m pushing for:

• A full ban on gambling advertising phased in over three years as recommended by the Murphy Review - to protect people’s mental health, especially young people
• Ambitious action on housing - because safe and affordable housing is an enabler of good health and housing stress harms health. For more information, see my policies on housing.
• Better active travel infrastructure - so more people feel safe and confident riding to work, if they want to. For more information, see my policies on ACT infrastructure.
• And cost-of-living relief - so people can afford to pay the bills and invest in their health and wellbeing. For more information, see my cost of living policies.
• Raising the rate of income support payments - so people relying on our safety net aren’t being forced to live below the poverty line, see my cost of living policies.
  
  

Ending discriminatory rules for blood donations

Australia has a near constant blood shortage. Ex-cyclone Alfred saw Lifeblood call out for 6,000 extra people to donate blood in March 2025 alone.

Experts argue that Australia's current blood donation policy is outdated, discriminatory and not fit-for-purpose. While there was a welcome change to Australia’s blood donation rules in 2023, further updates are needed. There is also concern that the Therapeutic Goods Association’s assessment of applications around how to modernise the regulation of blood donation in Australia and bring it into line with international best practice has dragged on for too long. I am calling for this assessment to be finalised as a priority. 

Safety will always come first when donating blood but it is unjustified, discriminatory and hurtful to exclude a HIV-negative gay couple in a monogamous relationship from donating blood. The current policy is stigmatising, not based on science and ultimately means we have less people donating, who really want to give back to the community.

We need to move urgently to individual risk assessments and end decades of discrimination.