Leading the call for meaningful transparency

Transparency matters

Patients deserve to understand the cost of their care. That is not in question.

However, in the current debate around medical fees, something else is happening too. Doctors are increasingly being portrayed as the villain making care unaffordable, rather than the professionals delivering safe and effective care.

Getting this balance right matters because transparency, when done well, strengthens trust and patient care. Done poorly, it risks undermining it, not just for doctors but for patients and the health system as a whole.

That’s why the Health Legislation Amendment (Improving Choice and Transparency for Private Health Consumers) Bill 2026 – commonly referred to as the Medical Costs Finder Bill – is so important.

The bill aims to give patients greater visibility of what specialists charge, an objective most of us support. But transparency must be accurate, contextualised and meaningful otherwise it risks being misleading.

Our concerns

A Senate Committee recently invited me and my colleague, Georgie Haysom to share Avant’s perspectives on the bill and to highlight where it needed to improve for doctors and patients.

One of our key concerns is the proposal to publish a single aggregated fee drawn from MBS data that may be 12 to 18 months old, without any mechanism for clinicians to query or correct the information. Data presented in this way risks misleading patients and creating confusion, rather than providing clarity.

We are also extremely concerned about the potential inclusion of national datasets relating to quality indicators, especially without a clear, evidence-based methodology or dedicated consultation process. Currently, there are no valid, fair and safe measures that exist at an individual practitioner level that would be suitable for public reporting. International experience reinforces this point.

There is a very real risk such measures, if poorly thought through, would have unintended consequences. Doctors who take on more complex, higher risk patients may have worse raw outcomes, not because they provide lower quality care, but because they are treating the patients who need more complex care.

On behalf of our members, we continue to work behind the scenes with Government, the Opposition and Independents to ensure they understand the ramifications of some of the proposed amendments. We are also putting forward alternative amendments – changes that would benefit patients, doctors and the health system. Details matter and without careful design, this bill may lead to unintended consequences.

Addressing the misconceptions

Finally, it’s important to address the tone of the broader public discussion about medical fees. In recent debates, doctors have at times been portrayed as acting unfairly or without regard to patients. This is one of the key points we made at the Senate Committee hearing because it’s a characterisation that is inaccurate and damaging, and risks undermining confidence in a health system that depends on trust.

The overwhelming majority of us act with professionalism, integrity and a deep commitment to our patients. We work within a complex system, balancing clinical need, patient circumstances, regulatory requirements and cost pressures, often under significant constraints and pressure.

Transparency should support informed decision making and strengthen trust, not distort it. Getting this balance right is essential not just for doctors, but for patients, and for the safety, access and sustainability of the entire health system.

Further resources and information

Avant - Submission to Health Legislation Bill l2026 PDF (Download)