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) (18:50): by leave—I move opposition amendments (1) and (2) on sheet 3822 together: (1) Schedule 1, item 1, page 5 (after line 3), at the end of section 124ZY, add: (8) If information about amounts of medical expenses incurred in respect of particular kinds of professional services rendered by or on behalf of particular medical practitioners is published under this section, the Secretary must also publish under this section: (a) if any formulas were used to work out those amounts—those formulas; and (b) if a material reduction in the amounts of those expenses occurs after publishing the information and the Secretary becomes aware of the reduction—the reduced amounts (as soon as practicable after the Secretary becomes so aware).

(2) Schedule 1, item 2, page 9 (after line 5), at the end of section 324-5, add: (11) If information about fees and charges relating to the provision of particular kinds of covered treatment by or on behalf of particular medical practitioners is published under this section, the Secretary must also publish under this section: (a) if any formulas were used to work out those fees and charges—those formulas; and (b) if a material reduction in the amounts of those fees and charges occurs after publishing the information and the Secretary becomes aware of the reduction—the reduced amounts (as soon as practicable after the Secretary becomes so aware).

These amendments are similar in nature, in terms of transparency, to the amendments that I just moved. They require a provision for the minister to actually publish why and how he is making a determination in relation to the information that is published. This is particularly specific about publishing any formula used to work out an amount of medical expenses for the purposes of publication under this particular section.

If the minister publishes information about medical expenses in respect of a particular kind of professional service rendered on or behalf of particular medical practitioners and becomes aware of a material reduction in those expenses, the minister must update the published information as soon as practicable after becoming aware. We do this to make sure that the information that's being provided to the patients who seek to use this service is as up to date and as accurate as it possibly can be.