Protect Canberra Seniors

Canberra Liberals Leader and Shadow Health Minister Mark Parton will move a Legislative Assembly motion calling on the ACT Labor Government to tell their Federal counterparts to dump its plan to axe the higher private health insurance rebate for Australians aged 65 and over.

The change, due to start on 1 April 2027, would hit about 3.2 million older Australians.

The Commonwealth Government estimates around 44,000 fewer older people will hold private cover by 2028-29. The ACT already has one of the nation’s highest hospital-cover rates, at 54.2 per cent.

“This is a cost-shift, pure and simple,” Mr Parton said. “The ACT already has one of the highest private health insurance rates in the country at 54.2 per cent. Pulling the rebate from older Australians risks pushing more patients into our already stretched public hospitals.

“In 2024-25 only 67 per cent of ACT elective surgery patients were treated within clinically recommended timeframes, with overdue patients waiting an average of 164 days. Older Australians who have paid into private health insurance for years should not be penalised at the exact stage of life when they need it most.”

Queensland, New South Wales and Tasmania have already raised similar concerns. The motion calls on the ACT Labor Government to write to Health Minister Mark Butler opposing the change, set out the impact on ACT hospitals, and table that letter in the Assembly within 30 days.

“Canberrans deserve better than Federal Labor running roughshod over the Territory and heaping extra pressure onto our local public hospitals,” Mr Parton said. “The Chief Minister should stand with Canberra seniors and tell the Feds to reverse course.”

The motion will be debated in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday, 16 September.