Justice Stocktake 2025
Home | Importance of Quality Healthcare Access
Access to Healthcare
Good health is fundamental to the quality of life all people deserve. Accessing quality health care early is critical to prevent a minor health problem becoming a serious chronic condition, which can have significant economic and lifestyle implications.
Unfortunately, many Australians cannot access suitable health care for a variety of reasons, including cost, availability of professionals, and capacity to take time away from other responsibilities.
Certain groups of people in Australia are more likely to experience barriers to accessing quality health care. These include rural and remote communities, lower income areas, people experiencing financial hardship, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of quality health care for all people. The pandemic also exposed, and even made worse, many gaps and shortfalls in Australia’s health care system, including staffing shortages and insufficient hospital beds. The impacts of this were disproportionately felt by people who were already experiencing disadvantage.
Some people are more likely to receive poor-quality care or have negative experiences with health services. For example, two-thirds of women report experiencing gender bias or discrimination when accessing health care.[1] Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds receive care that is not culturally safe, from language barriers to discrimination and racism.[2],[3] Some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people report deciding not to access a health service due to fear or embarrassment.[4]
Issues with availability, affordability, accessibility, and quality of health care often lead to health conditions going unmonitored, unmanaged and becoming more difficult to treat. The impact of an untreated health condition can impact other areas of life, including relationships with others, and housing or employment security.
Inequitable access to health care has negative consequences for individuals, the community, and our economy.
Waited 24 hoursor more
45.6 per cent of people who saw a General Practitioner (GP) for urgent medical care waited for 24 hours or more.[5]
7%
Seven per cent of people say cost was a reason for delaying a visit to or not using a GP. This is up from 3.5 per cent in 2021-22.[6]
1 in 3 offer bulk billing
Only around one in three Australian GP clinics offer bulk billing to adults. In some electorates there are no bulk billing GPs.[7]
We have the power to make a difference
We can urge action from our governments
Governments can work together to increase funding and flexibility in primary health care to encourage more bulk billed GP visits and to provide more clinicians in primary care such as nurses and allied health professionals.[8]
We can explore funding models that allow rural and remote communities to design innovative and sustainable models of primary care that address the needs of local communities.[9]
We can increase investment in Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs) to provide culturally informed and holistic health services that address local community needs and work to close the gap on health and wellbeing inequality for First Nations peoples.[10]
We should expect health services in Australia to be safe and equitable for all. We can push for governments to increase investment in healthcare research with an intersectional gendered lens to improve women’s treatment in the health system.[11]
Governments must identify and address barriers that exist across the nation to ensure equitable access to culturally safe and gender-responsive health care.
We can implement change in our community and our workplaces
When we organise events for our community groups and workplaces we can prioritise events and activities that are compatible with, or even promote, positive health and wellbeing. Where we can influence our workplaces, wherever possible, we should provide options for flexible work arrangements that allow people to effectively manage their health around work.
We can have influence in our personal lives
We can invest in our health by getting regular physical activity and eating fresh and nutritious foods, where possible. We can take action early when unwell, and encourage family and friends to do the same.
National Women’s Health Advisory Council. (2024). #EndGenderBias Survey Summary Report. Department of Health and Aged Care. [Link] ↩︎
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2023). Cultural safety in health care for Indigenous Australians: monitoring framework. [Link] ↩︎
Khatri, R. & Assefa, Y. (2022). Access to health services among culturally and linguistically diverse populations in the Australian universal health care system: issues and challenges. BMC Public Health. 22,880. [Link] ↩︎
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2024). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework: summary report March 2024. [Link] ↩︎
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2022-23). Patient Experiences. ABS. [Link] ↩︎
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2022-23). Patient Experiences. ABS. [Link] ↩︎
Cleanbill (2023). Health of the Nation Report: National General Practitioner Listings. [Link] ↩︎
Breadon, P., Romanes, D., Fox, L., Bolton, J., & Richardson, L. (2022). A new Medicare: Strengthening general practice. Grattan Institute. [Link] ↩︎
Australian Government. (2022). Strengthening Medicare Taskforce Report. [Link] ↩︎
Australian Government. (2022). Strengthening Medicare Taskforce Report. [Link] ↩︎
Australian Women’s Health Alliance. (2023). Policy brief: A gendered framework for action on prevention and healthcare. [Link] ↩︎