Nurses are the solution to bulk-billing crisis, says peak body

ANMF federal secretary Annie Butler with then opposition leader Anthony Albanese in 2019. ‘We … need to reform how we fund … health services, and start to incentivise excellent chronic-disease management.’ Photograph: Erik Anderson/AAP

Doctors are “gatekeeping” conversations surrounding affordable access to healthcare, leaving nurses and their highly specialised skills undervalued and underutilised, peak nursing bodies say.

The cost of access to basic healthcare is a pressing problem for many Australians, with an increasing number of general practitioners limiting access to bulk billing or scrapping it altogether.