Cost of care

The bulk billing behaviours of GPs appear to have stabilised since 2024. The percentage of patients who were bulk billed for all their care in general practice remains unchanged from 2024, at an average of 56% across all practising GPs.

When grouped by their billing practices (bulk billing the majority, minority or no patients), 12% of GPs indicated they bulk bill all their patients. The long-term trend has been a decline in GPs bulk billing all patients and an increase in those bulk billing a minority or no patients.

Spotlight with Cubiko Touchstone dataset

The Cubiko Touchstone dataset draws on aggregated, de-identified data from general practices nationwide. Data from 1048 practices that have opted into the Touchstone dataset is included below.

The bulk-billing rate for different populations remained relatively steady in the Touchstone dataset throughout 2023 and 2024. Generally, concession card holders experience the most bulk billing, followed by patients under 16 years old. This is likely reflective of the additional incentives available to GPs for bulk billing these populations.⁵

The overall bulk-billing rate for this group of practices continues to hover between 64% and 70% over the past two years.⁶

The typical fee charged by GPs for a Level B consult (lasting between 6–20 minutes in duration) has continued to rise.

Between 2024 and 2025, the average fee for a 6–20-minute standard consultation, including the MBS rebate of $42.85, has increased from just over $78 to $82 (Figure 9). This means the average ‘gap fee’ for this consultation is around $39. This represents an increase of 4.6% over that time.

For the first time in the Health of the Nation survey, half of practising GPs (50%) are charging $90 or more for a 6–20-minute standard consultation, inclusive of the MBS rebate of $42.85.

The average fee for a Level B consult (6–20 minutes) with a GP varied by rurality. Patients in Modified Monash Model (MMM)^* 2(outer metropolitan) areas had the highest average fee for a 6–20-minute consult with a GP, at $86.74 including the Level B MBS rebate of $42.85.

The trend in a growing number of people delaying access to GP care due to cost has continued in 2023–24.² The overall proportion of people delaying GP care due to cost has increased from 7% to 8.8% between 2022–23 and 2023–24.² People aged 15–34 remain most likely to delay care due to cost. Delayed care can have significant impacts for this age group. They may miss out on essential care for mental health concerns or early interventions to prevent chronic disease in middle age. This can have lifelong impacts, diminishing quality of life and productivity.