Now lawHealth & Care Introduced in the House of Representatives, 27 May 2026

Family doctor bonus payments now have their own law

The government pays doctors and clinics extra bonus money, such as for bulk billing, where the patient pays nothing. Until now there was no law made just for these bonuses. This new law sets the rules for who gets paid. It adds fines for clinics that lie about the programs. It also says when computers can make choices.

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

Who it affects

• Family doctor clinics and doctors: Bonus programs they already use now sit under this law. The government says they will not need to apply again.
• Country doctors: Their bonus for working in the bush is now paid under this law. The law does not set the amount. The minister's rules do.
• Patients: A clinic that lies to you about being in the bulk billing program can be fined. Your name and the kind of visit you had can be shared with groups that help run the programs, so they can do that work. Your medical records will not be shared.
• Groups that help run programs: Rural Workforce Agencies help find doctors for country areas. Primary Health Networks plan local health care in each region. Their staff can be given jobs such as checking who can get a bonus and working out payments. They can share information under the rules.

Why it exists

For years the national government has paid doctors and clinics extra money to do certain things. These extra payments are called incentive payments. In this story we call them bonuses.

Bonuses reward things like bulk billing and working in the country. They also reward caring for people in aged care homes and using new computer and online tools in health care.

Bulk billing means the doctor sends the bill to Medicare, so you pay nothing. The best known bonus is the Bulk Billing Practice Incentive Program. Practice is another word for a clinic. The program started in November 2025.

A clinic gets this bonus if it bulk bills every patient who can be bulk billed. Then for every dollar Medicare pays the clinic, it gets an extra 12.5 cents. That extra money is split evenly between the doctor and the clinic.

The Parliamentary Library says more than 3,700 clinics had joined by April 2026. The Library works for all members of Parliament and takes no side.

There are other bonus programs too. One pays country doctors up to $60,000 a year. Others reward clinics that work to improve their care, and doctors who visit people in aged care.

The problem was that most of these programs had no law made for them. There was no clear legal way to decide who could join. There was no clear way to check them or to appeal, which means asking for a decision to be looked at again.

Health Minister Mark Butler brought in a bill to fix that gap. A bill is a plan for a new law. Parliament has two parts, called houses. They are the House of Representatives and the Senate. A bill becomes law once both houses pass it and it is signed.

Bonus programs get a law

The Health Insurance Act 1973 is the main Medicare law. The new law adds a new chapter to it. That chapter lets the government run bonus programs and pay the people approved to take part.

Each program is set up in rules the minister writes. Parliament can vote to cancel those rules soon after they are made.

Each program must have a purpose from a set list. These include better care, cheaper and easier care, and care after hours. Others cover country care, online health, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, and training new doctors.

The rules say who can get each bonus and how much is paid. They say how the money is paid and what people must report. They also say how checks work.

Doctors, nurses and other health workers can take part. So can clinics and other health businesses. The minister's rules can let other groups take part too, such as colleges that train doctors.

Medicare and bonus money together

There is an old rule in the Medicare law. It was added in 1976. It says Medicare will not pay for a visit if the government already pays for it in another way. The aim is to stop public money paying twice for the same thing.

Without a fix, that old rule might stop Medicare paying for visits by doctors in a bonus program.

The new law says the old rule does not apply just because a doctor is in a bonus program. So a doctor can bill Medicare for your visit and still get a bonus on top.

The minister can still pick a program that the old rule will apply to. Then Medicare would not pay for visits done for that program. This is in case a future program should not be paid for twice.

Joining or leaving a program

No one has to join a program. A clinic or doctor can ask to join in writing. If they meet the rules, they must be let in.

The person who lets them in is the head of the health department, or the Chief Executive of Medicare. The Chief Executive of Medicare is the senior official at Services Australia, the agency that runs Medicare payments.

Officials can ask for more information. They must give you at least 28 days to reply. If you do not reply in time, it is as if you never asked to join.

Officials can also sign you up without being asked, if they already know you can join. For example, they might know from your Medicare bills. The rules can also say that people in certain situations must be signed up. You can ask to leave at any time.

Officials can cancel your place in a program. That can happen if you stop meeting the rules, break a condition you agreed to when you joined, or ignore a request for papers. They must tell you in writing. The cancelling only counts from that day on. It cannot reach back to an earlier date.

Records, fines and bans

People in a program must keep the records the rules ask for. Breaking that rule can bring a fine of up to 10 penalty units. A penalty unit is a set dollar amount used to work out fines. When the Library wrote its guide, one unit was $330, so this fine was up to $3,300.

It is against the law to say you are in a program when you are not. It is also against the law to say you are not in a program when you really are. The example below shows why that matters. The fine is up to 50 penalty units. That was $16,500 when the Library wrote its guide.

Here is an example. A clinic is in the bulk billing program, so it must bulk bill every patient who can be bulk billed. But it tells you it is not in the program, so it can charge you. That clinic can be fined.

Officials can ban a doctor or clinic from programs. That can happen after their place in a program is cancelled. It can happen if officials have good reason to think the law is being broken. It can also happen if a court finds the person guilty of cheating or lying to get money.

A ban can be for a set time or forever. It can come with conditions. People usually get a chance to have their say first. They must be told the reasons in writing.

Medicare already has powers to demand papers, get back money that was wrongly paid, and add fines. Those powers now cover bonus payments too.

Appeals

You might be refused, have your place cancelled, or be banned. If so, you can ask for the decision to be looked at again. This happens twice inside the government. The second time, a more senior officer looks at it.

After that, you can go to the Administrative Review Tribunal. It looks again at government decisions. It is like a court, but less formal.

Officials can also fix a decision themselves if they spot a mistake. They can do this even while your appeal is going on.

Computers making decisions

The law lets officials use computer programs to make some choices. For example, a computer can check who can get a bonus or work out how much to pay. The rules list which choices computers can make.

Some choices are harder and need more thought. A computer can only make one of those if the minister has said yes first. Officials must also write a public guide on how the computer makes that choice.

A computer's choice counts as if the official made it. If an official thinks the computer got it wrong, they can make a new choice themselves. They must then write to you within 14 days to tell you the new choice. You can still appeal it.

The health department and Services Australia must say on their websites when computers make choices. Any letter you get about a choice must say if a computer made it.

Sharing information with helpers

The rules can let some outside groups use and share information to run the programs. The government wrote notes to explain the law. Those notes name three groups. They are Primary Health Networks, Rural Workforce Agencies and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. General practitioner is the formal name for a family doctor, or GP. That college trains family doctors and sets their standards.

The shared information can include doctors' names, contact details, payments and work hours. It can also include patient names and the kinds of visits billed. The government's notes say doctors' notes and medical records will never be used.

Officials can also hand some program jobs to people who do not work for the government. One example is staff at Rural Workforce Agencies. They could check which country doctors can get a bonus, and work out each payment.

Health Insurance Act renamed

The second part of the law changes the name of the Health Insurance Act 1973. It will be called the Medicare Act 1973. The government says the new name better matches what the law does.

Lots of other laws use the old name. So this law also updates 37 other laws, from the Aged Care Act 2024 to tax laws. These changes only swap the name. They do not change any rules.

Law since October 2026

The bill went to the first house, the House of Representatives, on 27 May 2026. The House passed it on 2 July 2026.

The Senate is the second house. It began talking about the bill on 16 September 2026. On 12 October 2026 the Senate voted yes to the main idea of the bill. Then it went through the bill one line at a time.

During that, the Senate agreed to one change. It was put forward by the Liberal and National parties, the main group not in government. The government's notes and the Library's guide do not say what the change was. The Senate passed the bill in a final vote that same day.

The House agreed to the Senate's change on 13 October 2026. So the bill had passed both houses that day.

The Governor-General is the King's representative in Australia. The Governor-General signed the bill into law on 16 October 2026. It is now Act number 96 of 2026.

The bonus program part of the law started the day after it was signed. The government says people already in programs will not need to apply again. The minister can write rules to move them across.

The name change starts on a date the government picks. It must be within 24 months of the law being signed. The extra time is so forms, computer systems and other laws can be updated.

How they voted

Its journey through Parliament

Official sources

• Bill page on aph.gov.au
• Text of the bill
• Explanatory memorandum
• Bills Digest

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