Medicare-subsidised GP, allied health and specialist health care across local areas

Box 1: What are non-hospital Medicare-subsidised services?

In this report, 'non-hospital Medicare-subsidised services' refers to services provided in non-inpatient settings. This excludes services delivered to people admitted to hospital at the time of receiving the service or where the care was provided as part of an episode of hospital-substitute treatment where the patient received a benefit from a private health insurer. While services provided in-hospital are excluded, the data do include services provided in places like private outpatient clinics (which may or may not be located within the grounds of a hospital).

The categories of non-hospital Medicare-subsidised services included in this report are:

• General practice attendances – A general practitioner (GP) is often the first point of contact in the health system, and over time, Australians are seeing GPs at higher rates. From Medicare’s inception in 1984 until 2025, the yearly GP services attendance rate has increased from 3.8 to 6.1 visits per person (AIHW 2026).
• Diagnostic imaging services – Medicare-subsidised diagnostic imaging procedures include X-rays, computerised tomography scans, ultrasound scans, magnetic resonance imaging scans, and nuclear medicine scans.
• Allied health services – Allied health services include a broad range of services delivered by health practitioners who are not doctors, nurses or dentists. Medicare-subsidised allied health services do not cover all allied health treatments. Some allied health services are not included in this report because they are accessed and funded through different arrangements, such as those subsidised by private health insurance or the Department of Veterans’ Affairs.
• Specialist attendances – Specialist attendances include psychiatry services and early intervention services for children, as well as other specialist attendances not reported separately in this report. Specialist attendances are Medicare-subsidised referred patient/doctor encounters, such as visits, consultations, and attendances by video conference, involving medical practitioners who have been recognised as specialists or consultant physicians for Medicare benefits purposes.
• Nursing and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health worker services – The nursing and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health worker service group comprises Medicare-subsidised services provided by a nurse practitioner, practice nurse, midwife, or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health worker.

For a detailed list of Medicare Benefits Schedule items included in each non-hospital Medicare-subsidised service category, please refer to the technical notes.