Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025

Senator WALKER (South Australia) (18:32): For an older Australian leaving hospital, it could mean getting home sooner with the medication that they need. For someone living with a chronic illness, it could mean fewer appointments, less travel and one less obstacle to staying healthy. These might sound like small things, but they make a big difference in people's lives.

The Albanese government has been clear that strengthening Medicare isn't just about investing more money, although we have done that too. It's also about making sure our health workforce can work to the full extent of their skills, which means backing doctors, nurses and allied health professionals—and, ultimately, it means backing patients. This reform has been years in the making, with extensive consultation across the health sector and agreement from health ministers across the country.

It has the appropriate safeguards, appropriate training requirements and clear professional standards. It's a sensible reform because it's built on evidence, not ideology. There is another point worth making.

Nursing is one of Australia's most trusted professions. Every day, nurses care for Australians at some of the most difficult moments in their lives with compassion, professionalism and skill. This bill, the Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025, says that we recognise that expertise.

It says we trust properly trained nurses to do the job they have prepared for and, most importantly, it says that the health system should be designed around patients, not bureaucracy. If someone can receive safe, affordable treatment closer to home more quickly and with fewer barriers, that's a good outcome. That's what this bill delivers.

It's practical, it's sensible and it will make a real difference for communities right across Australia, especially those that have too often found themselves at the back of the queue when it comes to accessing health care. I commend the bill to the Senate.