While the average Melbourne GP may no longer bulk bill the average patient, there are 29 medical centres across Melbourne that fully bulk bill anyone with a Medicare card.
Both the state and federal governments have steadily been funding new Priority Primary Care Centres (PPCCs) and Medicare Urgent Care Clinics (MUCCs) since September 2022, with 29 medical centres now open across Victoria, increasing the amount of fully bulk-billing doctors in Melbourne.
Two have opened in the past two days alone, in Melton and Carlton respectively, so we thought we’d produce an easy to scan list for anyone struggling to afford the $40 or more (after the rebate) to see a GP these days.
Fully bulk-billing doctors in and around Melbourne
- Ballarat Priority Primary Care
- Baw Baw Priority Primary Care
- Bendigo Priority Primary Care
- Craigieburn Priority Primary Care
- Dandenong Priority Primary Care
- Epping Priority Primary Care
- Forest Hill Priority Primary Care
- Frankston Primary Care
- Geelong Priority Primary Care
- Glen Waverley Priority Primary Care
- Heidelberg Priority Primary Care
- Inner Melbourne Priority Primary Care
- Latrobe Priority Primary Care
- Maribyrnong Priority Primary Care
- Maroondah Priority Primary Care
- Melton Priority Primary Care
- Mildura Priority Primary Care
- Monash Children’s Priority Primary Care Centre
- Moonee Ponds Priority Primary Care
- Narre Warren Priority Primary Care
- Prahran Priority Primary Care
- Richmond Priority Primary Care
- Shepparton Priority Primary Care
- Sunbury Priority Primary Care
- Sunshine Priority Primary Care
- Warrnambool Priority Primary Care
- Werribee Priority Primary Care
- Wodonga Priority Primary Care
Stay up to date with what’s happening in and around Melbourne here.
What do Priority Primary Care Centres treat?
The centres accept bookings and walk-ins, with doctors and nurses on site to treat a range of conditions like mild infections, fractures and burns, in addition to diagnostic services including pathology and medical imaging. The centres are open after hours (up to 16 hours a day, seven days a week), and have diagnostics on site or nearby. They don’t issue standard medical certificates for a day off work, so consider a statutory declaration or services like this.
PPCCs are also proving a reliable referral option for health care providers with approximately 45 per cent of referrals from GPs, hospital emergency departments, pharmacies, the Victorian Virtual Emergency Department, Maternal and Child Health line, Nurse On Call and Ambulance Victoria.
6,500 people are now receiving care in these PPCCs each week, with 40 per cent of these patients, young children, with 53 per cent of patients have reported that had a PPCC not been available, they would have otherwise gone to an emergency department for common ailments such as lacerations, fractures, minor burns, tonsillitis, and respiratory tract infections – all conditions that might require urgent attention, but not emergency care.
New bulk billing doctors in Carlton and Melton
The Melton centre will be open 10am to 8pm, seven days a week, with hours increasing further from mid-January.
Carlton Medical and Urgent Care Clinic has been established as the Inner Melbourne Medicare UCC and started seeing patients from 15 December 2023 at 1/221 Drummond Street, Carlton. The Inner Melbourne Medicare UCC will be open for extended hours, 7 days a week, and offer walk-in care that is fully bulk billed.
Bulk billing eligibility at private medical centres
Too sick to leave your house? Get a doctor’s note without getting out of bed
From 1 November 2023, the federal government tripled the bulk-billing rebate (equating to around $20 extra for metropolitan clinics and nearly $40 extra for regional clinics) for two distinct groups:
- children under 16 years of age
- patients with a Commonwealth concession card
If you fit into one of those two categories, you should be able to access fully bulk-billed medical care at a far greater range of medical centres, although it’s always worth checking the medical centre website or with the receptionist before booking an appointment.
The MyMedicare system
The other major change to bulk-billing incentives has been the introduction of MyMedicare, a voluntary registration tool for patients aimed at encouraging people to visit the same GP or medical clinic on an ongoing basis, rather than shopping around.
If you complete the free registration process, you’ll unlock the following benefits:
- longer Medicare Benefit Scheme (MBS) funded telehealth consultations with your GP
- more regular visits from your GP and better care planning for people living in a residential aged care home, from August 2024
- connections to more appropriate care in general practice for people who visit hospital frequently, from mid-2024.
If faced with an emergency, people should still call Triple Zero or present to their closest emergency department. For further information, please visit betterhealth.vic.gov.au/priority-primary-care-centres-ppccs.
