People across the Bega Valley will get the free urgent care they need, fully bulk-billed, without waiting hours in a busy hospital emergency department, if the Albanese Labor Government is re-elected.

Labor will open a Medicare Urgent Care Clinic in Bega as part of a $644 million commitment to open another 50 Urgent Care Clinics, with more clinics in every state and territory.

Once all of Labor’s clinics are open, 4 in 5 Australians will live within a 20-minute drive of a Medicare Urgent Care Clinic.

If Labor is re-elected, the Medicare Urgent Care Clinic in Bega will begin operating in the 2025-26 financial year, providing bulk billed care for urgent but non-life-threatening conditions, seven days a week, for extended hours, and with no appointment needed.

The Urgent Care Clinic will take pressure off the South East Regional Hospital in Bega, which saw 12,647 non-urgent and semi-urgent presentations in 2023-24.

Parents and families swear by them: one third of patients are under the age of 15.

All you will need is your Medicare card, not your credit card.

The Liberals say the Albanese Labor Government’s Urgent Care Clinics are “wasteful spending”. Peter Dutton will close every Medicare Urgent Care Clinic, forcing over a million Australians a year back into the waiting rooms of busy hospital emergency departments.

Labor went to the last election promising to open 50 Medicare Urgent Care Clinics, and we have delivered 87 clinics.

This includes at Queanbeyan in Eden-Monaro, which has supported over 5,000 free presentations since opening its doors in July last year.

More than 1.2 million Australians have already been treated at one of Labor’s existing 87 Urgent Care Clinics.

Doctors have embraced the clinics, with a survey finding 7 in 10 GPs support Medicare Urgent Care Clinics, and 8 in 10 GPs say they have a positive impact on hospital emergency departments.

Around 2 million Australians are expected to make use of an Urgent Care Clinic each year, getting the free urgent care they need, fully bulk billed, without waiting hours in a busy hospital emergency department.

This extends Labor’s election commitment to strengthening Medicare, with the single largest investment in Medicare since its creation over 40 years ago.

Video – Patient case studies | Sarah Hunstead’s visit | Bhavana’s visit

Video – Health professionals explain | Inside the Rockhampton Urgent Care Clinic

Animated explainer – When should you visit | What do Urgent Care Clinics offer

Advertisement – That’s a case for a Medicare Urgent Care Clinic

Quotes attributable to Health Minister Mark Butler:

“Australia's doctors voted Peter Dutton the worst Health Minister in Medicare history for a reason.

“The Liberals had nine years to open Medicare Urgent Care Clinics, and they never opened a single one. Now they call Labor’s clinics ‘wasteful spending’ and want to close every single one of them.

Quotes attributable to Member for Eden-Monaro, Kristy McBain MP​:

“Living in the regions my entire life and raising my kids in the Bega Valley, I know how tough it can be to access healthcare services when you need them.

“That’s why I’ve worked hard to improve healthcare on the Far South Coast and right across Eden-Monaro – because your postcode and your bank balance shouldn’t be a barrier.

“Only Labor will deliver a Medicare Urgent Care Clinic in Bega, providing more care options closer to home – fully bulk billed, seven days a week with extended hours – taking pressure off the South East Regional Hospital.

“The Urgent Care Clinic I delivered in Queanbeyan has been hugely successful, giving people injured in weekend footy or sick kids access to free and fast care – which is exactly the service we’ll provide in the Bega Valley – a service the Opposition has said it doesn’t support.