Staying well and getting care — GP, hospital, dental, medication, mental health, aged care, NDIS.

Why it matters: Healthcare is the single highest-trust public service when it works and the loudest source of complaints when it doesn't. Mental health for under-25s is the most-discussed crisis in the country with the slowest visible response. NDIS and aged care are where promised reform and daily care are furthest apart.

What it looks like across cohorts

Highest-leverage ideas

• Urgent Care Plus (medium) — extend urgent-care-clinic model to every SA4 with co-located dental triage and MH first-aid. (i005)
• Bulk-billing visibility map (small) — live, weekly-refreshed map by suburb. (i006)
• ACCHO-first funding flow (medium) — default federal funding to ACCHOs over mainstream where co-located. (i023)
• MM2-bridge primary care (medium) — bulk-billed primary care for MM2 visa holders during the 2-yr Medicare wait. (i035)
• Veteran-family Open Arms (medium) — extend Open-Arms-style mental-health support to immediate family. (i048)
• NDIS-Medicare bridge (medium) — defined responsibilities and joint funding for therapies that fall between schemes. (i060)
• Foundational supports rollout (medium) — outside-NDIS foundational supports in every PHN. (i061)
• headspace 2.0 (medium) — same-week access SLA + extended hours model. (i073)
• School-based mental-health professional (medium) — embedded MH professional in every secondary school. (i074)
• Maternal mental-health 6-week check (small) — universal postnatal MH check funded under Medicare. (i086)

Sources

• Citizen Voice 2025 — Healthcare, Mental Health, Aged Care, NDIS sections
• AIHW; Productivity Commission RoGS (Health, Aged Care)
• NDIS Review final report
• Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide
• headspace; Mission Australia Youth Survey