The Albanese Labor government has made healthcare more affordable and accessible for millions of Australians whilst addressing critical workforce shortages and system failures that developed over nearly a decade of Coalition government.
Since taking office in May 2022, Labor has reversed the collapse in bulk billing by tripling incentives for vulnerable Australians, established a national network of free urgent care clinics, delivered the largest aged care pay rise in history, and expanded mental health services and home care support. The government has invested over $23.5 billion to strengthen Medicare, representing the largest investment in the system in over 40 years.
The core achievement has been making healthcare cheaper and more accessible. After bulk billing rates fell to a monthly low of 75% in October 2023 under the Coalition's Medicare freeze, Labor's $3.5 billion investment tripled bulk billing incentives in November 2023 for pensioners, concession cardholders, and families with children under 16. This generated 6 million additional bulk-billed GP visits over the following 14 months, with national rates rising to 77.5% by December 2024. Around 90% of children's GP visits are now bulk billed, and every state and territory has seen improvements.
Labor created an entirely new tier of healthcare by establishing 87 Medicare Urgent Care Clinics that provide fully bulk-billed treatment for urgent but non-life-threatening conditions, seven days a week with extended hours and no appointment needed. These clinics delivered one million free visits by December 2024, with nearly half of patients saying they would have otherwise gone to an emergency department. The government has committed to 50 additional clinics in 2025-26, bringing 80% of Australians within a 20-minute drive of urgent care.
In aged care, Labor addressed chronic workforce shortages by funding a 15% pay rise for over 250,000 workers from July 2023 at a cost of $11.3 billion, followed by an additional $3.8 billion for further increases from January 2025. This represents the largest one-off aged care wage increase in history and has delivered tangible results, with an additional 3.6 million minutes of care provided daily in residential facilities. The government has also expanded access to home care, fast-tracking 20,000 Home Care Packages before launching the new Support at Home program on 1 November 2025, with 83,000 additional packages planned for 2025-26.
Labor has reformed mental health care by creating a $588.5 million digital early intervention service providing free cognitive behavioural therapy without diagnosis or referral from January 2026, expanding Medicare Mental Health Centres to 61 locations by mid-2026, and investing $109.1 million to train 500 additional psychologists with a focus on regional and rural areas. The government has also implemented world-first anti-vaping legislation that has seized over 7 million vaping products since July 2024, earning praise from the World Health Organization.
Additional reforms include committing $1.7 billion more for public hospitals in 2025-26 (a 12% increase to a record $33.91 billion), investing $213.8 million to combat NDIS fraud (preventing over $400 million being diverted from genuine participants), training a record 1,750 new GPs in 2025 with one-third specialising in rural medicine, and establishing a $12.5 million nation-first program supporting people with probable chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
The result is a healthcare system that is more affordable, more accessible, and better staffed than when Labor took office, with measurable improvements in bulk billing rates, reduced emergency department pressure, better-paid aged care workers, expanded mental health services, and growing medical workforces in areas of critical shortage.
Key Healthcare Achievements:
6 million additional bulk-billed GP visits between November 2023 and December 2024, averaging 100,000 free visits weekly
National bulk billing rates increased from 75% to 77.5%, with 90% of children's GP visits now bulk billed
87 Medicare Urgent Care Clinics delivering one million free visits by December 2024
$15.1 billion invested in aged care worker pay rises (15% increase from July 2023 plus further increases from January 2025)
3.6 million additional minutes of care delivered daily in residential aged care facilities
83,000 new Support at Home packages to be released in 2025-26, the largest single-year increase in program history
61 Medicare Mental Health Centres providing free walk-in care by mid-2026
Over 7 million vaping products seized since implementing world-first anti-vaping laws in July 2024
$1.7 billion additional funding for public hospitals in 2025-26, a 12% increase to a record $33.91 billion
1,750 trainee GPs in 2025, with one-third specialising in rural medicine
Over $400 million prevented from being diverted from genuine NDIS participants through fraud detection
