ACT Independent Senator David Pocock is today releasing the health policy plank of his 2025 election campaign platform.

The platform outlines the policies he will be pushing on behalf of the community if elected for a second term as Senator for the ACT.

“Canberrans have told me that we need a much more accessible and affordable healthcare system here in the ACT”, Senator Pocock said.

“In a survey of the electorate that received more than 1200 responses, healthcare was identified as the second highest priority after cost-of-living - and the two are clearly linked.

“Across almost every metric, healthcare in the ACT is more expensive. We have the highest out-of-pocket costs and the lowest bulk billing rate in the country and I want to fight to turn that around.

“I hear story after story of people in the ACT having to travel interstate for treatment.

“We’ve seen both major parties announce a range of national healthcare policies but what I’m hearing is that many simply won’t work in the ACT or that the ACT has been overlooked entirely in allocations.

“I will not accept the status quo, it is not good enough and I want to work with whoever forms government to push solutions tailored to the ACT’s specific needs that will make a real difference for Canberrans’ experience of our healthcare system.”

Senator Pocock is pushing a number of key policy changes including:

• ensuring the ACT receives our fair share of public hospital funding; currently we receive less than the promised Commonwealth Contribution rate of 45% agreed by National Cabinet and getting a fairer contribution for the treatment of patients from NSW; 
  
  
• making bulk billing work for Canberrans by changing the ACT’s MMM classification  to open up higher Medicare rebates for the ACT to lower gap fees;
  
  
• investing in longer consultations between patients and GPs, so that the people with the most complex issues aren’t always the ones getting slugged with the highest fees;
  
  
• tackling the reasons behind large insurance costs for GPs in the ACT, which contribute to higher gap fees;
  
  
• freeing up GPs from the growing burden of admin so they can see more patients;
  
  
• a comprehensive plan to grow our health workforce, paired with an attraction and retention strategy for the ACT;
  
  
• making specialist fees more transparent and more competitive: private healthcare is a market, people should be able to compare prices and shop around;
  
  
• taking action to make dental care more affordable
  
  
• introducing a full three-year phased-in ban on gambling advertising as recommended by the Murphy Review
  
  
• reducing waiting times for home care packages
  
  
• ensuring the ACT receives at least one of the new Youth Specialist Care Centres pledged by Labor
  
  
• investing in respite care in the ACT to save Burrangiri Aged Care Respite Centre

Some key data points and the full policy platform are included below.

More Canberrans are waiting longer for surgery than those in other states and the NT.

Sources: 

For GP appointments: Medicare quarterly statistics - State and territory (Dec quarter 24-25)

For psychology appointments: Department of Health and Aged Care, Answer to questions on notice 590, 24-25 Supplementary Budget Estimates

For ultrasound: Department of Health and Aged Care, Answer to questions on notice 3, 23-24 Additional Estimates

People in the ACT pay more for almost every healthcare service

Tripling the bulk billing incentive won’t shift the dial in the ACT

ATTACHMENT 

FULL HEALTH POLICY PLATFORM - ACT INDEPENDENT SENATOR DAVID POCOCK 

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. 
  
  
• Better active travel infrastructure - so more people feel safe and confident riding to work, if they want to. 
  
  
• And cost-of-living relief - so people can afford to pay the bills and invest in their health and wellbeing. 
  
  
• Raising the rate of income support payments - so people relying on our safety net aren’t being forced to live below the poverty line.

Aged care and respite care

In this term, I have worked with the Government and the Opposition to deliver reforms to aged care that have been sorely needed. However, there is more to do, because we know that the work of implementing the recommendations of the Aged Care Royal Commission has not finished. I continue to hear from Canberrans truly devastating stories about the treatment of seniors in aged care facilities.

I’ll be pushing for:

• Allowing people over the age of 65 to access the NDIS - currently, we have a two tier system where people with disability receive different support based on their age.
  
  
• Reducing the wait time for Home Care Packages - down to three months from application to approval, to help seniors stay at home for as long as they choose to.

• Better access to respite care - by pushing for new federal investment into community respite to meet growing demand in Australia, and saving Burrangiri Aged Care Respite Centre in particular
  
  
• Pushing for minimum training requirements in aged care - so we can have confidence that staff in aged care can properly provide the care that is needed.