In February 2023, the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce report outlined priority recommendations to improve primary care, including a review of barriers and incentives for all health professionals to work to their full scope of practice. In April 2023, National Cabinet, which includes the Prime Minister and the First Minister from each state and territory, supported the Taskforce's recommendations. As a result, the Australian Government provided funding to conduct a scope of practice review focusing on primary care in the 2023-2024 Budget, which commenced in September 2023.

The review focuses on key health professionals who currently provide or have the potential to provide primary care, and explores the available evidence of the benefits, risks, barriers and enablers associated with health professionals working to their full scope of practice. Full scope of practice means the professional activities that a health professional is educated (skill/knowledge), competent and authorised to perform, and for which they are accountable.

The review is part of a broader suite of strategies and policy reform aimed at strengthening Australia’s primary health care sector. The Australian Government 2023-24 Budget provided a $6.1 billion investment into Medicare to lay the foundations for significant reforms.

The purpose of this issues paper is to provide an overview of the evidence collected to date through evidence review, submissions and consultations, to outline the options for reform based on the sum of this evidence, pose questions for further exploration through the next phase of consultations, and describe the direction and next steps for the review.