Fines for Not Giving Information to Government
Health Legislation Amendment (Improved Medicare Integrity and Other Measures) Bill 2025
Senate
House of Representatives
Assent
Topics
government accountability healthcare healthcare administration information privacy information sharing Medicare pharmacy regulation public health search warrants therapeutic goods vaping products +6 more
Introduced by: The Hon Mark Butler MP (ALP)
Links to official parliament websites
Effects of this bill
If this bill passes, it means that:
The Debate
What different members said when this bill was debated:
Katy Gallagher ALP
“I present the explanatory memoranda relating and move: That these bills be now read a second time. I seek leave to have the second reading speeches incorporated in Hansard. Leave granted.”
Anne Ruston LIB
“I rise today to speak on the Health Legislation Amendment (Improved Medicare Integrity and Other Measures) Bill 2025. The opposition will support this bill because the bill seeks to implement a suite of measures designed to protect the integrity of Medicare, strengthen the regulation of goods under the Therapeutic Goods Act and introduce minor but necessary amendments to the tobacco act.”
“This is not my first speech. I rise to speak on the Health Legislation Amendment (Improved Medicare Integrity and Other Measures) Bill 2025. I welcome the bipartisan approach taken by the coalition in restoring integrity and maintaining the sustainability of Medicare. As you know, Acting Deputy President O’Neill, Medicare is our most important safety net.”
“I’m speaking to the Health Legislation Amendment (Improved Medicare Integrity and Other Measures) Bill 2025. As I understand it, this bill has been presented to the parliament following the independent review of Medicare integrity and compliance. This review, with its final report delivered in 2023, provided observations regarding fraud, non-compliance and vulnerabilities of the payment system.”
Richard Colbeck LIB
“I rise to make my contribution to the Health Legislation Amendment (Improved Medicare Integrity and Other Measures) Bill 2025. As I commence, I note that this bill is in response to the Philip review, which identified a range of issues that need to be addressed to ensure the effective operation of the Medicare system.”
Dorinda Cox ALP
“Today I rise to make a contribution to the Health Legislation Amendment (Improved Medicare Integrity and Other Measures) Bill 2025. I start by congratulating the former minister who introduced this piece of legislation in the other house, Ms Kearney, for her work in ensuring that Medicare is maintained, strengthened and protected.”
James McGrath LNP
“The Health Legislation Amendment (Improved Medicare Integrity and Other Measures) Bill 2025 implements a number of public health measures intended to protect the integrity of Medicare, enhance the regulation of goods under the Therapeutic Goods Act and make minor amendments to the Public Health (Tobacco and Other Products) Act.”
Ellie Whiteaker ALP
“Medicare is one of Labor’s proudest achievements and one of Australia’s proudest achievements. It’s a reflection of our values: no matter where you live, what you earn or who you are, you should be able to access the health care you need. That access should depend on your Medicare card, not your credit card.”
Maria Kovacic LIB
“The coalition supports the measures in the Health Legislation Amendment (Improved Medicare Integrity and Other Measures) Bill 2025 to strengthen the effective administration of Australia’s important health benefits schemes. We have a longstanding commitment to protecting the integrity of our health benefits schemes, such as Medicare and the PBS, and this bill is in line with that commitment.”
Helen Polley ALP
“I rise today to speak in strong support of the Health Legislation Amendment (Improved Medicare Integrity and Other Measures) Bill 2025. This bill is not just another piece of legislation; it is a vital step in protecting and strengthening Medicare, the backbone of our health system and one of the proudest achievements of Labor governments past and present.”
Richard Dowling ALP
“I note that this is not my first speech. I rise to speak in support of the Health Legislation Amendment (Improved Medicare Integrity and Other Measures) Bill 2025. The bill is another example of the government’s commitment to high-quality public health care—health care that is affordable and accessible.”
Deborah O'Neill ALP
“I just want to talk about a couple of colours—green and gold. They’re our national colours. They’re worn by the Wallabies and the Matildas. They’re worn with pride because they symbolise who we are as a nation: our belief in freedom, respect, fairness, equality of opportunity and mateship—looking after one another.”
Paul Scarr LIB
“The coalition supports Medicare. Funding into Medicare increased every single year under the former coalition government. Every single year that the coalition was in government before the election of the Albanese government, year on year, there was an increase in Medicare funding. The first year we came into power, there had been $18.6 billion of funding under Labor in 2012-13.”
Lisa Darmanin ALP
“In the months leading up to this year’s May election, I spent countless hours out in the Victorian community knocking on hundreds and hundreds of doors and speaking to hundreds and hundreds of people on the phone, talking to them about what their concerns were, what their experiences were and what they want to see for our country.”
Jane Hume LIB
“I rise to speak on the Health Legislation Amendment (Improved Medicare Integrity and Other Measures) Bill 2025. I alert the chamber now that my contribution won’t be excessively long today, but I do think that it is very important to put things on the record because—let’s face it—this bill in itself is not highly controversial, but the issue of health care in Australia is a very contentious one.”
Tony Sheldon ALP
“I rise to speak on the Health Legislation Amendment (Improved Medicare Integrity and Other Measures) Bill 2025. This bill demonstrates yet again a clear truth in how most policies work in our country. The Liberals and Nationals, either intentionally or by their own incompetence, create a crisis, and Labor comes in to clean it up and clean their mess up.”
“I rise to support the Health Legislation Amendment (Improved Medicare Integrity and Other Measures) Bill 2025. Medicare and our Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme are the cornerstones of Australia’s world-class health system. Indeed, they are the envy of the world, and they light the way for what a fairer, more decent health system can look like.”
Josh Dolega ALP
“I rise today to speak to the Health Legislation Amendment (Improved Medicare Integrity and Other Measures) Bill 2025, and I note that this is not my first speech. When I think about Medicare, three names come to mind: Whitlam, Hawke and Albanese—three Labor legends who have championed universal health care.”
Lidia Thorpe IND
“I rise today to speak about the health crisis this country continues to impose on First Peoples of this country. The so-called gap in health, in housing and in justice, grows with every preventable death, every child removed, every prison sentence and every community left without basic health care or housing. They call it a gap. We call it what it is: a system of racial segregation.”
Rebecca White ALP
“I present the explanatory memorandum for this bill and move: That this bill be now read a second time. Today, I move the second reading of the Health Legislation Amendment (Improved Medicare Integrity and Other Measures) Bill 2025. Australia has a world-class health system that offers affordable, high-quality, accessible health care to all Australians.”
Melissa McIntosh LIB
“I rise today to speak on the Health Legislation Amendment (Improved Medicare Integrity and Other Measures) Bill 2025. The opposition will support this bill because the bill seeks to implement a suite of measures designed to protect the integrity of Medicare, strengthen the regulation of goods under the Therapeutic Goods Act and introduce minor but necessary amendments to the tobacco act.”
Mike Freelander ALP
“This bill, the Health Legislation Amendment (Improved Medicare Integrity and Other Measures) Bill 2025, is a very important one. I’m grateful to the Assistant Minister for Health and Aged care for her work on this legislation and for bringing it to our parliament, as this is a vital step in strengthening our nation’s most treasured social program, Medicare.”
Dan Repacholi ALP
“I rise to speak on the Health Legislation Amendment (Improved Medicare Integrity and Other Measures) Bill 2025. Can I start with the member for Macarthur and his good, fine words and thank him for all the work he has done in the healthcare system over the years. People like him who come into this place make a real difference. Thank you. This bill does two very important things.”
“Medicare is a Labor creation. Just over 40 years old, it is an institution in this country, the system people rely on, day in and day out, so that they can access the health care that they need—so that they can see a general practitioner, so that they can see a specialist, so that they can have a life-saving or life-changing operation.”
Jerome Laxale ALP
“When Australians talk about what they want from their government, fair and equitable access to health care is always near the top of the list. Medicare is one of Australia’s greatest institutions and one of the proudest achievements of the Labor Party. Introduced in its current form in 1983, it remains as important today as it was on the day it was made law by the Hawke government.”
Dr RYAN
“I rise today to speak on the Health Legislation Amendment (Improved Medicare Integrity and Other Measures) Bill 2025, a bill which seeks to strengthen the integrity of our Medicare system. It is entirely appropriate that the government take all steps necessary to safeguard the sustainability of our universal healthcare system.”
Susan Templeman ALP
“This is the second time I’ve spoken on the Health Legislation Amendment (Improved Medicare Integrity and Other Measures) Bill because this bill lapsed in the last parliament. This is something that we thought needed to be done several years ago, and that goes to the previous speaker’s comments around the work done in the Philip review in 2022.”
“I respect the member for Macquarie. She left the best till last in her speech on the Health Legislation Amendment (Improved Medicare Integrity and Other Measures) Bill 2025. And she’s so right. People will come to members of parliament to say that the most important thing in their lives is their health.”
Zhi Soon ALP
“I rise today to support the Health Legislation Amendment (Improved Medicare Integrity and Other Measures) Bill 2025, and I am so glad to have another opportunity to speak on this government’s healthcare agenda. Australians know that it was a Labor government that created Medicare, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and their predecessors.”
Zali Steggall IND
“This bill implements minor amendments from the government’s response to the Philip review by strengthening integrity measures across Medicare, pharmaceuticals and therapeutic goods. It equips regulators with stronger powers to tackle fraud, unlawful products and the growing threat of vaping.”
Tom French ALP
“I rise to speak in support of the Health Legislation Amendment (Improved Medicare Integrity and Other Measures) Bill 2025. This bill is about fairness, trust and the future of Medicare and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. It is about making sure these pillars of our health system remain strong, sustainable and accessible for every Australian.”
Julian Hill ALP
“This bill brings together a number of important strands of the government’s ongoing work to improve and reform Australia’s healthcare system.”