Health Legislation Amendment (Improving Choice and Transparency for Private Health Consumers) Bill 2026

Senator RUSTON (South Australia—Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) (18:48): by leave—I move amendments (1) to (3) on sheet 3821 together: (1) Schedule 1, item 1, page 5 (after line 19), after section 124ZZA, insert: 124ZZB Annual report (1) The Secretary must, as soon as practicable after the end of each financial year that starts after the commencement of this section, prepare a written report in relation to the information published under section 124ZY before the end of that year.

Note: The report is not limited to information published in that year only. (2) Without limiting subsection (1), the report must include analysis of any trends in the published information, including, for example, trends in relation to: (a) changes in the median costs of particular kinds of professional services; and (b) variations in those costs between different geographical areas where those services are rendered.

(3) The Secretary must give the Minister a copy of the report no later than 3 months after the end of that year. (4) The Minister must cause a copy of the report to be tabled in each House of the Parliament within 15 sitting days of that House after the Minister receives the report. (2) Schedule 1, item 2, page 9 (after line 21), after section 324-15, insert: 324-20 Annual report (1) The Secretary must, as soon as practicable after the end of each financial year that starts after the commencement of this section, prepare a written report in relation to the information published under section 324-5 before the end of that year.

Note: The report is not limited to information published in that year only. (2) Without limiting subsection (1), the report must include analysis of any trends in the published information, including, for example, trends in relation to: (a) changes in the median costs of particular kinds of *hospital treatments and *general treatments *covered by *complying health insurance policies; and (b) variations in those costs between different geographical areas where those treatments are provided.

(3) The Secretary must give the Minister a copy of the report no later than 3 months after the end of that year. (4) The Minister must cause a copy of the report to be tabled in each House of the Parliament within 15 sitting days of that House after the Minister receives the report. (3) Schedule 2, item 8, page 26 (after line 31), after section 66-12, insert: 66-13 Annual report (1) The Minister must, as soon as practicable after the end of each financial year that starts after the commencement of this section, cause a review to be conducted of any changes during that year to *products and premiums payable under policies in products.

(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the review must consider: (a) applications made during that year under section 66-8 (about new product subgroups); and (b) applications made during that year under section 66-10 (about changes to premiums and products); and (c) any *designated changes to *complying health insurance products made during that year; and (d) whether, and to what extent, insurers engaged in any product phoenixing during that year.

(3) The person or persons conducting the review must give the Minister a written report of the review no later than 3 months after the end of that year. (4) The Minister must cause a copy of the report to be tabled in each House of the Parliament within 15 sitting days of that House after the Minister receives the report. (5) If the report includes any recommendations, the Minister must: (a) prepare a written statement setting out the Commonwealth Government's response to each recommendation; and (b) cause a copy of the statement to be tabled in each House of the Parliament within 6 months after receiving the report.

These amendments require the annual reporting of what the government is finding with the information that it is publishing on its cost finder website. We need to make sure that trends are identified in the information published, such as movements in the median price and ranges in respect of particular kinds of professional services, geographical variations et cetera.

The population do not just need to know what a number is; they need to understand whether costs are going up, whether costs are going down, whether costs are changing within particular professional service areas and whether costs are changing based on geography. We want to make sure that Australians are not disadvantaged because of their postcode, so we are very keen to make sure that we have greater transparency about what is being reported, not just what the government wants.

We believe this information will be very valuable to the people who will be using the cost finder.