GPs are questioning why, if bulk billing is a viable business model, it needs grants to operate.
The federal government’s three promised universal bulk billing clinics are opening in Canberra, but GPs are raising the alarm over the controversial market interventions.
The initiative has been backed by a $10.5 million federal initiative and is aimed at lifting the ACT’s low bulk billing rates and attracting more GPs, health minister Mark Butler said on Monday.
Next Practice Deakin’s clinic in South Tuggeranong and Coombs Bulk Billing Practice, run by Ochre Health, opened this week, with a Gungahlin clinic operated by Macquarie General Practice due to open in July.
Coombs Bulk Billing Practice will move to Molonglo once renovations are complete.
“The objective of this activity is to attract, relocate and upskill approximately 10 GPs per general practice,” an ACT Primary Health Network statement read.
There are already three established clinics in South Tuggerangong, three in Phillip and five in Gungahlin The Medical Republic identified.
The three new clinics will increase the number of universal bulk-billing practices in the ACT to 23, with eight of those having switched from mixed billing since November 2025.
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Dr John Deery, chair of the Australian GP Alliance (AGPA) and a Canberran practice owner himself, told TMR the initiative was “outrageous”.
“It’s obviously implying that [universal] bulk billing has failed if practice owners can’t afford to open new clinics without being paid millions of dollars,” Dr Deery said.
A June 2026 Cleanbill report found that ACT had the lowest national universal bulk billing rate at 54.1%, with all four of ACT’s statistical areas among the bottom 10 in the country.
Dr Deery expressed concerns that even if the government successfully attracted GPs to a universal bulk-billing clinic, the quality of care might suffer.
“Why would I start opening more clinics, which I have planned to do, if I’m going to be undercut by the government?” he said.
Dr Deery said the initiative posed a secondary competitive risk to practice owners.
“If there’s a reduction in revenue, that means we’ll have to employ fewer staff, which would be a further reduction in GP services,” he said.
Dr Deery said Medicare rebates required a substantial increase and appropriate indexation to reduce patients’ out-of-pocket costs and encourage more doctors to enter general practice.
In 2026, 29 future GPs commenced training in the ACT – a 25% increase on 2025 – yet the ACT still has the lowest rate of GPs per capita.
“Multiple studies have shown around the world that the more primary care doctors there are per capita, the better the health outcomes. Making general practice more attractive [to doctors] will be of far greater benefit to what the government is currently pursuing,” Dr Deery said.
Mr Butler said the government was committed to supporting more bulk billing GPs in Canberra.
“Canberra has had issues with GP availability for a long time. Having three new GP clinics will help make medical care cheaper and more accessible for many Canberrans,” Mr Butler said.
The contracts for the three new clinics will run until 30 June 2028.
