Struggle to find bulk-billing clinics for children prompts fears vaccination rates will fall

As more GP clinics abandon or significantly reduce bulk billing, parents and carers say it is becoming harder to find a clinic that routinely bulk bills children.

Her six-month-old recently developed an infection in his finger and the pharmacist told her he needed to see a GP and get antibiotics as soon as possible.

She said that when the $550 coronavirus supplement became available, many single mothers used it to finally access therapy, go to the dentist and get their eyesight and hearing tested.

Prof Julie Leask, a social scientist and vaccine expert, said she was concerned that as bulk billing became harder for families to access, vaccination rates would fall.

GPs say Medicare rebates are not enough to make bulk billing sustainable, given the rising costs of managing a practice as well as implementing Covid-19 measures and vaccinations.

Dr Bruce Willett, vice president of the Royal Australian College of GPs, said GPs often chose to bulk bill certain patient groups.

The federal health minister, Mark Butler, has acknowledged the bulk-billing crisis, and appointed experts to the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce to examine how basic healthcare can be made more affordable to those most in need.