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New Labor ‘TassieDoc’ Plan Sparks Backlash
The Australian Medical Association Tasmania Vice-President Dr Meg Creely has come out speaking against the Labor party’s latest healthcare proposal, the so-called TassieDoc initiative. This was initially lauded for targeting underserved communities, however Labor has now expanded its scope to include established urban areas.
“Both major parties must stop chasing headlines,” said Creely who argues that the health system needs collaborative policy-making.
In Labor’s response, Leader Dean Winter said that: “This is a change – but we have to change the way we are delivering healthcare in this state.”
Media release – AMA Tasmania, 15 July 2025
LABOR’S URBAN GP CLINICS RISK UNDERMINING LOCAL HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS
The Labor Party’s announcement to expand its policy from funding GP clinics in communities with no access to GP services to now include urban areas like Glenorchy has sparked serious concern among our members.
This policy risks undermining long-standing community clinics that are already providing care in a financially strained environment, due to decades of Medicare underfunding by successive Federal Governments.
There is no doubt that access to primary care must improve.
However, government-funded clinics in areas like Glenorchy, already served by at least eight private practices, represent a misguided intervention that could force private clinics to close leaving us with no overall improvement in GP access.
If this policy is in response to closed books or long waits for appointments, the answer is not competing with existing businesses—it is addressing the root cause: we don’t have enough GPs.
Tasmania currently faces a critical GP shortage, with over 100 vacancies state-wide, especially in rural and regional areas.
There is deep concern among health professionals about where the government expects to find the workforce to staff new clinics.
Diverting GPs into government-run urban clinics risks cannibalising the existing workforce, adding stress to current practices and threatening closures.
This is not a solution—it’s a reshuffle with damaging consequences.
Subsidising premises and staffing costs for government-run clinics creates an uneven playing field. Local practices that have served their communities for decades and must cover these costs themselves will struggle to compete.
This is not targeted reform; it is market distortion.
If the government wants to intervene, it should do so in communities with genuine market failure, such as Risdon Vale, where no GP service has operated sustainably for years, despite repeated attempts.
The TassieDoc clinics have been sold as ‘bulk billing’ however this is not bulk billing in the traditional sense, this is the state government stepping in to cover the gap between the cost of what it takes to provide medical services and what the patients Medicare rebate provides.
Competing with local clinics for a limited workforce will force some to close their doors.
This is not the solution to a broken system.
We welcome investment in primary care—but not at the expense of the very clinics that keep it afloat.
Many GPs remain sceptical of the Federal Government’s bulk billing promises, shaped by years of rebates failing to keep pace with the actual cost of quality care. This funding gap—not profit motives—is why many clinics charge gap fees: to survive.
Both major parties must stop chasing headlines and start engaging meaningfully with the health professionals tasked with delivering patient care.
The health of Tasmanians and the sustainability of our primary care system demand serious, collaborative policy-making, not patchwork fixes for political gain.
These policies do not demonstrate a clear understanding of what our health system needs, but rather opportunistic grabs for photo opportunities and votes that will only make the health system worse.
Media release – Dean Winter MP, Labor Leader, 17 July 2025
We can’t keep doing healthcare the same way
When the Anthony Albanese announced he would build Urgent Care Clinics, the Australian Medical Association said they would not work.
Urgent Care Clinics are now fully staffed and are having a massive, positive impact in reducing pressure on our hospitals. The Albanese Labor Government promised 50 and have delivered 87, including five here in Tasmania.
This is history repeating with TassieDoc. This is a change – but we have to change the way we are delivering healthcare in this state. Our health system needs a fresh start.
Our TassieDoc clinics will give Tasmanians hope. They will deliver the same success – providing 100% free bulk-billed doctor clinics across local communities and real cost-of-living relief to Tasmanians. All that will be required is your Medicare card.
We’ll also train the doctors and nurses to deliver the healthcare Tasmanians deserve when they need, where they need it.
The AMA has a right to have its say and I will always have my door open to discuss how we roll this out, but there is a fundamental point they need to understand. We cannot keep doing health the same way. Waiting lists have doubled, people are getting sicker and our hospitals are full.
We can’t keep doing healthcare the same way – we’ve got to change.
Tasmania’s know that our health system is sick and that it needs a fresh start, that’s why Labor will also deliver:
· Scope of practice reforms for pharmacists;
· More nurse practitioners in regional hospitals;
· TassieDoc 24/7;
· and TassieDoc 2 U.
After 11 years of the Liberals Tasmania’s healthcare is in crisis, they are paying more and waiting longer to see a doctor and our hospital waiting lists have blown out to record levels.
Tasmania needs a government who is prepared to do things differently and reform our healthcare sector.
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