Health Insurance Amendment (Incentive Payments and Other Measures) Bill 2026

Mrs McINTOSH (Lindsay) (13:11): I rise to speak on the message from the Senate in relation to the Health Insurance Amendment (Incentive Payments and Other Measures) Bill 2026. At its heart, this bill is about the machinery of Medicare. It sets up a legislative framework for programs that already exist: the Bulk Billing Practice Incentive Program, the Practice Incentives Program, the Workforce Incentive Program and the General Practice in Aged Care Incentive.

It's about how those programs are approved, administered, checked and enforced. These things matter because good administration matters and these are important programs. They back the doctors and nurses and the practices that hold our system together.

This bill enables certain decisions in relation to incentives to be made autonomously. While it might be suitable in some circumstances, we have already seen in other policy areas such as aged care how autonomous decision-making without human oversight has resulted in disastrous consequences. Yesterday, the Senate passed a coalition amendment that provides a small yet important safeguard on autonomous decision-making.

The coalition's amendment imposes additional requirements on what decisions and actions can be made autonomously in addition to the requirements already contained in the legislation. It's not about prohibiting routine decisions from being made autonomously; rather, it's about providing greater clarity to policy- and decision-makers as well as stakeholders on when and where decisions can be taken by a computer program.

As noted, this government has an appalling track record when left to its own devices on automation. We've heard of hundreds of cases in aged care where autonomous decision-making without the capacity for human override has led to farcical and cruel decisions denying elderly Australians the care they desperately need. We therefore commend this amendment to the House and urge members to support it.

Question agreed to.