The Albanese Labor Government is delivering MASSIVE investment in Medicare, including more bulk billing to help Australians see a GP, even cheaper medicines, lower costs and better health care for women, and the first PBS listing for new oral contraceptive pills in more than 30 years.

A quick summary 

The Albanese Labor Government is also delivering funding for two new bulk billed Medicare services, local headspace mental health centres and more bulk billing for Murwillumbah by fixing the classification for healthcare services.

Free Medicare Urgent Care Clinic

A re-elected Albanese Labor Government will deliver a Medicare Urgent Care Clinic in the Tweed region.

Locals will be able to access the free urgent care they need, fully bulk billed, without waiting hours in a busy hospital emergency department.

If Labor is re-elected, the Medicare Urgent Care Clinic in the Tweed region will begin operating in the 2025-26 financial year, providing bulk billed care for urgent but non-life-threatening conditions, seven days a week, for extended hours, and with no appointment needed.

Medicare Mental Health Centre

The Albanese Labor Government will deliver $1.3 million to establish and operate a Medicare Mental Health Centre in Tweed expected to open in 2026–27.

The centre will be open for extended hours, with no appointment or referral needed and provide access to free, walk-in mental health care.

Staffed by qualified mental health professionals including social workers, nurses, and peer support workers, the centre will provide immediate help for people in distress as well as ongoing care for those with more complex mental health needs. Centres can also provide support for carers and families of people experiencing mental health distress and connect people with other services, from health to housing and employment.

New Ballina headspace and funding for Tweed headspace

Young people can now access free mental health support at the headspace Ballina, located at 32 Swift Street, Ballina.

headspace Ballina provides free support to young people aged 12 to 25 who are experiencing or at risk of mild to moderate mental ill-health.

The Albanese Labor Government delivered funding to help open the permanent Ballina headspace and funding to help upgrade the Tweed headspace.

More bulk billing for Murwillumbah

Murwillumbah locals and GPs will get more support from Medicare, with larger bulk billing incentives, thanks to the Albanese Labor Government reversing a decision of the former Liberal and Nationals Government.

Under the Liberals and Nationals, Murwillumbah was stripped of our classification as a ‘regional’ location and instead given a ‘metropolitan’ classification, putting us in the same category as Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne.

Labor’s change to Murwillumbah’s classification means that Murwillumbah residents will be treated fairly and have more access to healthcare.