Cracks in health system must be remedied

The Australian Medical Association is calling for sustainable and evidence-based solutions to address the pressures facing the healthcare system, with the impact of cumulative stresses being felt system-wide by patients and doctors alike.

AMA President Dr Danielle McMullen, who launched the AMA’s 2026–2027 Pre-Budget Submission at the National Press Club in Canberra last week, said the pressures facing the healthcare system are cumulative and create stress across the sector.

‘If our health system was a house, the cracks are now impossible to ignore and they must be remedied,’ Dr McMullen said.

‘General practice is the foundation of our system and helps keep people well and out of hospital, but it is being asked to do more with a funding model that doesn’t reflect the reality of patient care.

‘Patients are older and have more complex chronic conditions,’ she said. ‘Their care takes more time and more coordination, but Medicare still largely rewards short, simple consultations. We need to rethink the rebate structure that was designed for a different time, so GPs can spend the time they need to spend with patients.

‘Our public hospitals continue to face severe pressure, with emergency departments overcrowded, surgery waitlists too long, and health workers experiencing burnout and unacceptable levels of abuse. And the private health system is facing deep structural issues, with patients paying more for less, even as premiums rise.’

Prevention vital

Dr McMullen said the federal government must also take prevention seriously and look to evidence-based measures to reduce the growing burden of chronic disease, with overweight and obesity having overtaken smoking as the leading modifiable risk factor contributing to Australia’s disease burden.

She warned the continued introduction of quick win reforms, designed to improve access, may have opened multiple front doors to the health system but were fragmenting care and creating safety concerns.

‘The opening of these doors only helps patients if those doors are connected back to their usual GP and their health information follows them,’ she said.

While the AMA has welcomed federal government initiatives to improve access to GPs and to increase the GP workforce together with additional funding for the new National Health Reform Agreement, further reform is needed, according to Dr McMullen.

The AMA’s budget submission calls on the federal government to:

• Modernise Medicare, including reforming GP rebates to better support longer and more complex care.
• Invest in connected, multidisciplinary care so patients can access more services through their general practice.
• Fix after-hours access to a patient’s regular GP so emergency departments are not the default option for care.
• Deliver true reform backed by sustainable funding to help public hospitals clear the logjam, improve performance, and restore capacity.
• Reform private health to ensure it provides value, is transparent, and is managed with effective oversight by an independent authority to evolve and reform the sector.
• Take prevention seriously, including through evidence-backed measures such as a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages.
• Plan and further invest in a health workforce that can sustain the system into the future.
• Ensure any scope-of-practice changes are evidence-based, protect patient safety, and do not fragment continuity of care.