Genuinely free healthcare for all Queenslanders

It’s getting harder and harder to afford seeing a GP. Queenslanders are struggling like never before to find a bulk-billing GP – the number of bulk-billing GPs has dropped by 31% over the last six years.

And in a cost of living crisis, that means people are having to choose between things like paying for groceries or paying to see a GP. 

Despite a recent increase to the Medicare rebate, many GPs are struggling to bulk-bill because the rebate is still too low. Private GP clinics are forced to generate an income to pay wages and cover clinic costs. This means doctors are either forced to churn through patients or charge extra. 

People are putting off basic primary healthcare because they can’t afford it. That means people are more likely to get sicker and develop complications, which puts pressure on our public hospital system and emergency departments. 

The Greens will create 200 free public health clinics, where you can go to see a GP, nurse, psychologist or other allied health professional for free, and invest an extra $8.7 billion to end the crisis in our public hospitals.

The Greens will:

• Establish 200 free public health clinics across Queensland with publicly funded and salaried GPs, nurses, and allied health professionals including physiotherapists and psychologists.
• Open these free clinics seven days a week and out of hours to ensure people aren’t forced to attend an emergency department unnecessarily.
• End the crisis in our public hospitals by investing an additional $8.7 billion in our hospitals over four years, meaning 2,000 more beds and two new major hospitals in Queensland.

200 new public health clinics

The Greens will invest $4.75 billion over four years in building and staffing 200 public health clinics across Queensland to ensure every Queenslander has access to a free GP and crucial preventative and primary health care without having to pay. 

All doctors, nurses and allied health professionals will be public employees and paid professional salaries. 

Each clinic would have 10 GPs, 4 nurses and 4 other allied health staff. Under the Greens plan for 20 free psychology sessions per year, we will also employ 5 psychologists per clinic.

The public health clinics will be built across Queensland with the services tailored to particular community’s needs. Clinics would be funded to be open seven days a week and out of hours to ensure people aren’t forced to attend an emergency department unnecessarily. 

The clinics will be built over four years with priority given to areas currently lacking access to bulk-billing GPs, psychologists and other primary health care services. Fifty new clinics will come online each year until all 200 are open by 2028-2029.

Public health clinic locations

Region	Public Health Clinics (indicative only)
Brisbane	52
Logan/Beaudesert	14
Gold Coast	26
Sunshine Coast	16
Rockhampton/Central Queensland	9
Toowoomba/Darling Downs-Maranoa	11
Ipswich	9
Mackay/Whitsunday	7
Moreton Bay	19
Bundaberg/Wide Bay	12
Redlands	6
Townsville	9
Cairns/Far North Queensland	7
Longreach/Mt Isa/Outback	3

Bulk billing is collapsing

The number of fully bulk billing GPs in Queensland has fallen by 31% over the last six years.

In the Brisbane North Primary Health Network (PHN) area, that number is even bigger – with the number of fully bulk billing GPs dropping 39%.¹

Even after the Federal Government’s increase to bulk-billing rebate in November 2023, the overall bulk billing rate in Queensland has dropped 10% since 2019.²

Proportion of GPs who always bulk bill (via Federal Department of Health data)
PHN areas	2018-19	2023-24	% fall	% fall (proportion of 2018-19)
Qld	65%	45%	-20%	-31%
Brisbane North	58%	35%	-23%	-39%
Brisbane South	69%	47%	-22%	-31%
Gold Coast	73%	50%	-23%	-31%
Darling Downs & West Moreton	71%	53%	-18%	-26%
Western Queensland	64%	58%	-6%	-10%
Central Queensland, Wide Bay, Sunshine Coast	63%	41%	-21%	-34%
Northern Queensland	61%	49%	-12%	-19%
Central Queensland, Wide Bay, Sunshine Coast	63%	41%	-21%	-34%
Northern Queensland	61%	49%	-12%	-19%

Boosting Queensland’s hospitals

Queensland’s public hospitals are in crisis.

In Queensland’s emergency departments, almost 4 in 10 urgent (Category 3) patients weren’t seen within the recommended time of 30 minutes last year. 

Only 54% of patients at emergency departments were discharged within four hours –  down from over 75% a decade ago.

Queensland patients are waiting almost twice as long for planned surgery as they were two decades ago.³

The Greens will invest an additional $8.7 billion in our public hospitals over four years, meaning 2,000 more beds and two major new hospitals in Queensland.

Funding our plan

The total cost of building 200 public health clinics where the GPs, psychologists and other health professionals will be based will be $3.16 billion over four years.

Staffing costs for GPs, physiotherapists and other allied health professionals will be a further $1.6 billion over four years after Medicare rebates.

The staffing for costs for the psychologists based at these free health clinics is captured by our 20 Free Psychology Sessions plan.

The total cost of fully funding public hospitals would be $8.74 billion over four years. 

The remaining cost of the initiative will be funded by the Greens plan to raise royalties on mining corporations, which will raise $61 billion over four years.

($m)	2025- 26	2026-27	2027-28	2028-29	Total over 4 years
Build 200 public health clinics	$761	$780	$800	$820	$3,160
Staffing 200 public health clinics (GPs, allied health, nurses)	$211	$433	$666	$911	$2,222
Revenue from federal Medicare rebates (GPs)	-$62	-$123	-$185	-$247	-$617
Subtotal: 200 free public health clinics	$911	$1,090	$1,281	$1,483	$4,765
Fully Fund Public hospitals	$2,103	$2,156	$2,210	$2,265	$8,735
Total	$3,014	$3,246	$3,491	$3,749	$13,500

Sources:
1 See table, and Federal Department of Health data.
2  State Statistical Bulletin 2018-19 and media release from Minister for Health, June 2024.
3 2024 Public Hospital Report Card, AMA.