Analysis suggests Australian GP bulk-billing rate nearly doubled after Medicare incentive

An analysis by online health directory Cleanbill suggests the proportion of Australian GP clinics that fully bulk bill almost doubled to 40.2% by the end of 2025, following Medicare incentives introduced by the federal government in November. The study noted the government implemented an additional 12.5% payment on Medicare benefits for practices that bulk bill all eligible patients for all eligible services; previously, most incentives applied only to children under 16 and commonwealth concession card holders.

Between 1 November and mid-December 2025 Cleanbill called 6,877 clinics and found 1,007 had switched from private or mixed billing to full bulk billing since the start of 2025. The analysis showed variation by state: in the ACT about 12 of 101 clinics contacted reported they were fully bulk billing, in Western Australia about 130 of 657 (19.8%) did so, 51.9% of 2,342 clinics contacted in NSW fully bulk billed, and 43.6% of 1,793 clinics contacted in Victoria.

Cleanbill’s data also showed a 13.5% rise over the year in out-of-pocket costs for patients who are not bulk billed, and that the average total cost of a standard GP consultation now exceeds $100 in the ACT and Tasmania, leaving patients out of pocket an average of $58 and $61 respectively.

Federal health minister Mark Butler said “specific data contained in the Cleanbill analysis cannot be relied upon and should not be reported as accurate”.

Key Topics

Health, Medicare Incentive, Cleanbill, Bulk Billing, General Practice, Mark Butler