STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS

Ms STANLEY (Werriwa—Government Whip) (13:43): Over many years, the focus for the residents of Werriwa has been the health of their families. The Albanese government has worked steadily since its election to ensure that health care is affordable and available close to where you live. The tripling of the bulk-billing incentive has seen 32 fully bulk-billed GP practices available to the people I represent in suburbs like Austral, Green Valley, Cecil Hills, Lurnea, Hoxton Park, Casula and Prestons.

Our election commitment to open an urgent care clinic in Austral was realised in January this year. Already more than 2,000 people have accessed the clinic. The clinic joins the 137 Australia-wide, as promised and delivered by this government.

There have been more than 3.1 million visits to urgent care clinics Australia-wide. This means that almost all Australians live within a 20-minute drive of a bulk-billing clinic, and May's budget confirmed that urgent care clinics are now a permanent feature of our healthcare landscape. Urgent care clinics in south-west Sydney ease the burden of already strapped emergency departments in Liverpool, Campbelltown and Fairfield.

They also ensure that mums, dads, kids and older Australians get the advice they need when they need it out of hours. This is what access to Medicare and health looks like: care when you need it, where you need it and free of charge.