Tuesday, 8 September 2026

 Georgie CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (23:48): (2778) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Health, and the action I seek is for the minister to urgently increase and index the Victorian patient transport assistance scheme, or VPTAS as it is known – the subsidies for travel and accommodation. The minister earlier this year told the Parliament that distance can limit access to health care and lead to poorer health outcomes and, in her own words, ‘that has got to change’. The minister also said the government wanted to ensure that ‘no matter what your language, culture or postcode, Victoria’s health system works for you.’

Well, Minister, this week we have had another test of those words. Yesterday the Leukaemia Foundation released its national scorecard comparing patient travel assistance schemes across Australia. Victoria disgracefully is dead last – not somewhere in the middle of the pack, not slightly behind the other states, last. Victoria scored just 41.3 out of 100, compared with 95.3 in South Australia, 87.5 in Western Australia and 79.2 in Tasmania. That is an appalling result for a state that claims its health system works for Victorians regardless of their postcode, and it has not happened overnight. For years, VPTAS subsidies have failed to keep pace with the actual cost of fuel, running a car and finding somewhere to stay while receiving treatment. Victoria provides just $49.50 a night for accommodation. Show me a Melbourne hotel under $200 a night. The Leukaemia Foundation says patients driving hundreds of kilometres for treatment should receive at least 45 cents per kilometre, and that assistance should be indexed annually so it cannot simply be set and forgotten.

At present they get an embarrassing 21 cents. The ATO says it should be 91 cents, and yet they are calling for less than half. These are not Victorians choosing to travel; they are cancer patients and other seriously ill Victorians who have no choice but to travel because the specialist care they need is not available close to home. Some will travel hundreds of kilometres for chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery or specialist appointments. Others will have to leave their families and stay in Melbourne for weeks or months. They are already confronting serious illness, lost income and enormous uncertainty. Their postcode should not hand them another bill.

Minister, you said distance limiting access to health care has got to change. You said Victoria’s health system should work for people regardless of postcode. Victoria is now ranked the worst state or territory in Australia for helping these patients meet the cost of accessing treatment, and that is a disgrace.