ACT residents pay more out-of-pocket to see a doctor than anyone else in the country, productivity commission data shows.
Canberrans pay more on average to see a general practitioner, medical specialist and allied health professional.
In the 2022-23 financial year, on average Canberrans forked out $49 to see a GP, $130 for a specialist and $85 for an allied health professional.
The average Australian wallet was $43 lighter after seeing the GP, $108 following a specialist visit, and $65 for visiting an allied health professional.
The lowest number of ACT patients had all GP appointments bulk-billed than in any previous recorded year.
Only one-in-four, or 26 per cent, of non-referred ACT patients paid no out-of-pocket costs to see a GP in 2022-23.
The year before, 40 per cent of patients were fully bulk-billed.
Nationwide, more than half of patients never paid out-of-pocket fees to see a GP in 2022-23.
General practitioners were less likely to bulk bill children aged zero to 15, compared to other states and territories, and previous years.
In the last year, 67.6 per cent of appointments with a child were bulk-billed in the ACT.
The year before, 78.3 per cent of such visits were bulk-billed.
Australia-wide, bulk-billing for that age group dropped from 93.7 per cent in 2021-22, to 89.2 per cent in 2022-23.
According to this data, the rate of ACT patients who had sole bulk-billed GP visits steadily increased from 2013-14 until 2019-20.
Separate data showed the ACT GP bulk-billing rate had improved by 1.9 percentage points since federal government incentives were introduced in November.
This still lagged at least 17 percentage points behind every other state and territory.
The rate of full-time equivalent GPs dropped by 1.4 in 2022-23.
At 93.5 doctors per 100,000 people, it was still the second highest rate in the last decade.
However, it was lower than all states and territories, except the Northern Territory.
On average, Australia had 115.2 GPs per 100,000 people in 2022-23.
The Australian government also spent less on general practitioners per ACT resident last financial year, compared to the one before.
The federal government paid $317 per resident in 2022-23, and $342.2 in 2021-22.
They spent $420.1 per person nationwide in 2022-23.
It is not all bad news for Canberrans.
The ACT has the highest immunisation rate for children in certain age groups, according to this data.
Of children aged 12 to 15 months, 96.7 per cent are immunised.
That is the highest it has ever been in the territory, and higher than any other jurisdiction.
The same came be said for children aged two to two years, three months, of which 94.3 per cent are vaccinated.
The ACT also has more children aged between five years and five years, three months vaccinated than the rest of the country.
However, at 95.7 per cent, the rate is somewhat lower than the two previous financial years.
The ACT also recorded one of its lowest numbers of avoidable emergency department presentations in the last decade in 2022-23.
These presentations are classified as "GP-type", meaning they could have been managed by a primary care doctor.
The only year which had fewer of these types of presentations was 2019-20.
