About Us

What This Site Covers

Australian healthcare is jointly run by the Commonwealth (federal) Government — principally through Medicare and the Department of Health and Aged Care — and the eight state and territory governments. We cover the structure of each jurisdiction with practice-level detail on:

How Australian Healthcare Is Structured

Australia operates a joint Commonwealth-State healthcare system. The Commonwealth funds primary care (general practice, pharmacy, allied health) through Medicare, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), and a range of national programs. States and territories fund and operate public hospitals and a range of community-based services. The eight jurisdictions:

Australia is also divided into 31 Primary Health Networks (PHNs), established in 2015 (replacing Medicare Locals). PHNs commission a range of primary-care services and coordinate local population-health initiatives. Each GP clinic on this site is mapped to the PHN that covers its catchment.

Professional regulation of healthcare practitioners is unified nationally through the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law, with 15 National Boards regulating specific professions. This is a key difference from the United Kingdom (which has separate UK-wide regulators for each profession). Medicines and medical devices are regulated by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). Clinical guidelines are published by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and by professional Colleges (RACGP, ACRRM, ACEM, RANZCO, and others). National safety and quality standards are set by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC) through the National Safety and Quality Primary and Community Healthcare Standards.

What Sets medicalcentre-au.org/ Apart — The Manual-Verification Standard

Most online Australian “find a GP” listings are populated by automated feeds that go stale within weeks. Practice telephone numbers change, premises move, partners retire and join, bulk-billing arrangements change (frequently), opening hours change, accreditation status changes, and after-hours arrangements shift. National aggregators rarely reflect these changes in real time.

Every Australian medical centre on medicalcentre-au.org/ is verified by a human editor against the practice's own published page and (separately) against the practice's accreditation status with AGPAL or GPA Accreditation Plus where applicable. We do not auto-scrape Healthdirect Service Finder or any aggregator. Every practice URL is human-clicked before publication. Every bulk-billing status note is checked against the practice's current published billing notice.

What You Will Find on Each Practice Page

• Practice name and trading name
• Address, postcode, and embedded map — with a separate “directions” link
• Main telephone — dial-tested quarterly
• Bulk-billing status — full bulk-billing / concession only / mixed billing with gap fee — checked quarterly
• Opening hours — including after-hours arrangements and Saturday clinics
• After-hours routing — usually healthdirect, sometimes a partner Locum / Home Doctor service
• Practice accreditation status — RACGP Standards through AGPAL or GPA Accreditation Plus
• Primary Health Network (PHN) — the PHN that covers the practice catchment
• Practice type — corporate group / independent / Aboriginal Medical Service / women’s health clinic / sexual health / dental
• Online services availability — online appointment booking, online prescription requests, Telehealth (Medicare-funded under MBS items where eligible)
• Services offered — standard GP services plus specialist clinics (chronic disease management plans, mental health treatment plans, antenatal shared care, minor surgery, skin checks, travel medicine, immigration medicals)
• Accessibility information — step-free access, hearing loop, languages spoken, NDIS-friendly
• Practice registration with My Health Record — whether the practice uploads to and reads from your My Health Record
• Bulk-billed Telehealth availability — under the current MBS Telehealth items
• State complaints commissioner route — the specific state or territory body to escalate to (HCCC NSW, HCC Vic, OHO Qld, HaDSCO WA, HCSCC SA, HCC Tas, ACT HSC, NT HCSCC)

How We Find and Verify — The Eight-Step Process

1. Identify the right authoritative source. The practice’s own website; healthdirect.gov.au Service Finder; the practice’s accreditation listing with AGPAL or GPA Accreditation Plus; the relevant state or territory health department directory.
2. Verify the practice URL is live. A human editor clicks every link before publication.
3. Cross-check the bulk-billing status. Against the practice’s current published billing notice and (where applicable) the practice’s stated Medicare Statement of Standards.
4. Verify the PHN attribution. Against the PHN-postcode mapping published by the Department of Health and Aged Care.
5. Verify accreditation status against AGPAL or GPA Accreditation Plus public records.
6. Verify Telehealth and online services availability against the practice’s published page.
7. Dial-test the practice main telephone. Quarterly cycle.
8. Editor sign-off. A second editor reviews end-to-end, including a fresh check on the “this is not medical advice” notice and the 000 / healthdirect emergency framework.

Medicare, Bulk-Billing, and How Australian GP Costs Work

Medicare is the Australian Commonwealth’s universal health insurance scheme, administered by Services Australia (formerly the Department of Human Services). For every Medicare-eligible Australian resident, Medicare contributes a “scheduled fee” toward each GP visit under the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS). The MBS scheduled fee is set by the Department of Health and Aged Care.

• Bulk-billing. The practice charges only the Medicare scheduled fee and accepts Medicare’s payment as full settlement. The patient pays nothing out of pocket at the consultation.
• Mixed billing. The practice bulk-bills concession card holders (Pensioner Concession Card, Health Care Card, DVA cards) and some children under 16, but charges a “gap fee” (a fee above the scheduled fee) for other patients. The patient pays the full fee at consultation, claims the Medicare rebate back, and the gap is out-of-pocket.
• Private billing. The practice charges its own fee and does not bulk-bill; the patient claims the Medicare rebate back. The gap is out-of-pocket.
• Triple-bulk-billing incentive. From 1 November 2023 the Commonwealth tripled the bulk-billing incentive for concession card holders and children under 16. Many practices changed their billing arrangements in response; we re-checked bulk-billing status across the network and re-check quarterly.

The exact billing arrangement at any practice is published by the practice itself. We record the practice’s published position and date of last check. The practice’s own current notice governs.

My Health Record and How to Access Your Records

Australia has a national digital health record system — My Health Record — established under the My Health Records Act 2012 (Cth). Every Australian with a Medicare or Department of Veterans’ Affairs card has a My Health Record unless they have opted out. Records can include hospital discharge summaries, pathology and imaging reports, immunisation history (from the Australian Immunisation Register), Medicare claims history, PBS prescription history, organ-donor decisions, and advance care planning documents. You control who can access your record through privacy and access controls.

Health Information — Sensitive Information Under Australian Privacy Law

Health information is sensitive information under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and is subject to enhanced protections under the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs). The information held about you by an Australian GP clinic — symptoms, diagnoses, medications, pathology results, mental health records, sexual health records — is governed by:

• Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) — with health information defined in section 6FA and additional protections in APP 3, APP 6, APP 10, and APP 11
• My Health Records Act 2012 (Cth) — for My Health Record specifically
• State Health Records Acts — the Health Records Act 2001 (Victoria), the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (NSW), the Health Records (Privacy and Access) Act 1997 (ACT), and the Health and Disability Services Commissioners Act 1995 (variant frameworks in other states and territories)
• Notifiable Data Breaches scheme — under Part IIIC of the Privacy Act 1988
• The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) — the Australian privacy regulator (oaic.gov.au)

What This Site Is For

medicalcentre-au.org/ is the plain-English, structurally complete reference for finding, understanding, and contacting Australian medical centres. We are completely independent. We are not affiliated with the Australian Government, the Department of Health and Aged Care, Services Australia, AHPRA, the Medical Board of Australia, the TGA, the NHMRC, ACSQHC, RACGP, ACRRM, AMA, AGPAL, GPA Accreditation Plus, any PHN, any state or territory health department, or any commercial medical-records aggregator. We do not sell health records. We do not hold patient records. We do not provide clinical advice. We do not file complaints on your behalf. We do not perform any service that requires a clinical qualification. Every patient record is held by the practice (or by My Health Record / Services Australia) — the official path is always myGov, your practice, or a request under APP 12 (Australian Privacy Principle 12: access to personal information).

What This Site Is Not For

• Not for medical advice. For symptoms, call healthdirect on 1800 022 222 (13 HEALTH on 13 43 25 84 in Queensland) or your GP. For emergencies, call 000.
• Not for ordering scripts. Use your practice’s online service or contact reception.
• Not for booking GP appointments. Use the practice’s own booking system or telephone reception.
• Not for accessing your My Health Record. Use myGov.
• Not for employment, insurance, immigration, NDIS, or Centrelink decisions. Decisions affecting an individual on the basis of health information are subject to the Privacy Act 1988 (sensitive information), the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth), and (for insurance) the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 / Life Insurance Code of Practice. Do not use our directory as a substitute for the protected processes.
• Not for tenant screening, background checks, or credit decisions. Medical centre presence at an address is not a lawful basis for any such decision.
• Not for legal advice. Consult an Australian legal practitioner admitted in your state or territory.

How Australian Health Complaints Work

Australia has a federated complaints framework. The route depends on what kind of complaint you have:

1. Local resolution. Speak first to the practice manager. Most issues are resolved at this stage. Each accredited GP clinic publishes a complaints procedure.
2. State or territory complaints commissioner. If unresolved, complain to the relevant state or territory body: Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) in NSW, Health Complaints Commissioner (HCC) in Victoria, Office of the Health Ombudsman (OHO) in Queensland, Health and Disability Services Complaints Office (HaDSCO) in WA, Health and Community Services Complaints Commissioner (HCSCC) in SA, Health Complaints Commissioner Tasmania, ACT Health Services Commissioner, and the NT Health and Community Services Complaints Commission.
3. For individual practitioner conduct (fitness to practise). Complain to AHPRA (ahpra.gov.au). In NSW, the system is co-regulatory: HCCC and the relevant Professional Council operate alongside AHPRA. In Queensland, the OHO has primary responsibility.
4. For privacy or data-handling complaints. Complain to the OAIC (oaic.gov.au) for Commonwealth privacy law; or to the relevant state privacy commissioner for state Health Records Acts.

Corrections and Feedback

Australian GP practices change — partners join and retire, premises move, bulk-billing arrangements change (particularly around MBS indexation and the November 2023 triple-bulk-billing incentive), Telehealth offerings shift, opening hours change, accreditation cycles complete. If you spot something on the site that doesn’t match the practice’s current published page, please email us.