Bulk billing rises to 63 percent for GP care in Australia, but experts caution on quality

Almost two-thirds of Australians are now bulk-billed for all of their GP care, meaning the doctor's fee is paid directly through Medicare. The finding comes from the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners' (RACGP) annual Health of the Nation report, due to be published on Wednesday, which includes a survey of 2,766 GPs.

According to the report, 63 percent of Australians are now bulk-billed for all their GP care, up from 56 percent in both 2024 and 2025. The report says this is likely a reflection of the federal government's recent investment in Medicare bulk billing incentives.

Of the GPs surveyed, 26 percent reported bulk-billing all of their patients, up from 12 percent in 2025. In other words, the proportion of doctors bulk-billing every patient has more than doubled in a year, after the government introduced financial incentives for doctors and practices.

In November, extra financial bonuses were introduced for practices that bulk-bill all eligible services for all Medicare patients. Those clinics receive an additional 12.5 percent top-up payment, split between the practice and the doctor.

The current figure nevertheless remains short of 2019, when the report found 70 percent of patients were bulk-billed for all their GP care. In other words, despite the improvement, the earlier peak has not yet been regained.

The report also draws on Australian Bureau of Statistics data. It found that the proportion of Australians delaying GP care because of cost fell from 8.8 percent in 2023–24 to 7.7 percent in 2024–25.

The RACGP president, Dr Michael Wright, said the findings indicate greater affordability across the healthcare system. For patients who have a preferred GP, more than two in three were always able to see them when needed, he said. In his words, when governments invest in general practice, patients benefit — funding gets results.

Dr Luke Slawomirski, a health economist with the Australia Institute, cautioned however that while the bulk-billing findings were certainly good news, the survey represents only about 7 percent of the GP workforce. He said it was important to be mindful of possible selection bias and to distinguish GPs' reported experiences from administrative data and measures of patient outcomes.

In Slawomirski's view, a strong health system depends on more than affordability and bulk-billing rates; access, quality of care and patient outcomes matter just as much. The investment should be judged by whether people are healthier and receiving better care, rather than by how many consultations are bulk-billed, he said, adding that there was still a sizeable access problem when one-third of patients were unable to see a GP when they needed to.

Wright agreed that success cannot be measured solely by bulk-billing rates. He warned there is a risk that inequities could emerge between communities if some patients continue facing higher out-of-pocket costs or reduced access to care. He also argued that Medicare patient rebates should reflect the real costs of providing care for complex and chronic conditions.

Medicare administrative data, meanwhile, shows 81 percent of GP consultations were bulk-billed in 2025–26, up from 78 percent the previous year. Slawomirski explained that these figures differ from the RACGP's because Medicare measures the proportion of services bulk-billed, rather than the proportion of patients.

The RACGP is calling for increases to patient Medicare rebates for longer consultations, and for the government to establish an independent primary care pricing authority to ensure Medicare funding reflects the true cost of delivering care.

Slawomirski said reforms needed to go further than this. As the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce recommended, the system needs to move away from heavy reliance on fee-for-service payments towards blended funding models, particularly for people with chronic and complex conditions, and to support multidisciplinary teams. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare estimated that potentially preventable hospitalisations cost the economy $7.7 billion in 2023–24 — better primary care could help reduce that burden, he said. In all, the rates have risen, but the debate will now run on quality of care and outcomes.