VMO report exposes gaps in statewide workforce planning
May 8, 2026
COMMENT: Dr Nikki Stamp on the Federal Government’s misguided attacks on specialist fees
May 14, 2026
STATEMENT FROM AMA (NSW) VICE PRESIDENT DR FRED BETROS
Last night’s Federal Budget failed NSW patients and will only result in greater pressure on our hospitals and primary care providers.
What we saw was a Commonwealth Government claiming credit for health reform while continuing to underfund public hospitals, booking billions in projected disability savings, and delaying the aged care investment that hospitals needed now.
This budget locks in $25 billion in additional public hospital funding over five years through the National Health Reform Agreement, but still refuses to meet the real test of reform – paying 50 per cent of public hospital activity to help our struggling hospitals meet rising demand.
Additional hospital funding begins at just $3.4568 billion nationally in 2026-27, rising to $5.7991 billion in 2029-30. For a hospital system already under enormous strain, that is not reform. It’s a continuation of the broken funding model that has left emergency departments overcrowded, wards full, and patients waiting too long for care.
At the same time, the Commonwealth is taking pressure off its own bottom line by pushing down on hospitals. The budget identifies $2.7 billion over five years from health, disability and ageing programs, with reductions of more than $500 million each year across the forward estimates.
These are not abstract savings. When disability supports are harder to access, people end up in emergency departments. When aged care beds are not available, older patients remain stranded in hospital long after they are medically ready to leave.
The budget provides $606.5 million over four years for residential aged care bed supply but pushes a larger $3 billion investment beyond the forward estimates, from 2030-31 to 2035-36. That is cold comfort for the patient stuck in a NSW hospital bed today.
The Commonwealth has also committed $1.8 billion over five years to make 137 Urgent Care Clinics permanent. Urgent Care Clinics have a role, but they are not a substitute for properly funded emergency departments and long-standing, trusted relationships with general practitioners.
Patients do not need fast food medicine. They need the right care, in the right place, delivered by properly funded parts of the health system. The Commonwealth cannot underfund hospitals, delay aged care investment, book billions in disability savings, and then act surprised when NSW hospitals remain overwhelmed.