Commission of Audit: Doctors, seniors, students brace for budget cuts as report outlines severe recommendations

Updated

Hockey announces report Treasurer Joe Hockey says the Commission of Audit report proves the Government "inherited a mess". Labor to fight GP charges Shadow treasury spokesman Chris Bowen says the Opposition will fight against charging for visits to the doctor because "your health should not be determined by your wealth". Hockey's 'call to arms' Everything from the aged pension to Medicare is on the table, with the Opposition is labelling the commission's report a "kick in the guts". Tax measures on table Tax measures will inevitably have to be considered to share the effort of returning the federal budget to surplus, according to Finance Minister Mathias Cormann. 'Nowhere near crisis' Economist Saul Eslake says the Government has not managed to prove there is a budget crisis. Means testing 'concerning' Ian Yates from the Council on the Ageing say there are concerns around changes to pension, health care and changes in means testing.

Doctors, pensioners and university students have criticised recommendations made by the Commission of Audit, saying the proposed cuts target those most in need.

The Federal Government on Thursday released the commission's report, outlining 86 recommendations aimed at saving the budget tens of billions of dollars a year and achieving a surplus of 1 per cent by 2023-24.

Areas in the firing line include family payments, child care, health care, education, unemployment and pension payments, aged care and the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

Treasurer Joe Hockey has been quick to emphasise that the report is "not the budget" but has not ruled out adopting any of the proposals.

Since it was set up in October, the commission has focused on the 15 biggest Commonwealth spending areas and found the long-term outlook for the budget is "ominous".

Mr Hockey says the report proves the Coalition "inherited a mess", with $123 billion in projected deficits over four years.

"The challenge now is to get on with the job of fixing the mess, and we will," he said.

The Australian Medical Association's Dr Steve Hambleton says there are savings to be found in health, but they should be made by people who understand the sector.

"We can't have accountants designing a health system; we've got to have outcomes that are actually better for patients," he said.

Dr Hambleton says a $15 co-payment to visit the GP, new co-payments for medicines covered by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), and changes to private health insurance could cost the Government more in the long run.

"If we put barriers in front of primary care we actually may see patients not attend for very serious matters that may get worse and are going to divert them into more expensive care, which could be ambulance or hospital, or they could get much, much sicker," he said.

"We hope the Government looks at the recommendations and dismisses the great majority of them."

Key commission recommendations Raise age pension age to 70 by 2053

Include family home in means test from 2027

Slow roll-out of NDIS

Up to $15 co-payment to visit doctor and access Medicare services

Increase co-payments for taxpayer-funded PBS-covered medicines

Uni students to pay more for degrees and lower HELP repayment threshold to minimum wage

New benchmark to lower growth in minimum wage so it is equal to 44 per cent of average weekly earnings

Force young single jobseekers to relocate or lose welfare benefit

Scrap Family Tax Benefit Part B and a new means test for Part A with maximum rate of payment reducing from at $48,837

Lower paid parental leave scheme salary cap to average week earnings (currently $57,460) and use savings for expanded child care payments Read a more extensive list of recommendations here

National Seniors Australia warns extra co-payments will hit older people hardest.

"The co-payments arrangement of $15 is well beyond the pale, in particular for folks with multiple health conditions," spokesman Michael O'Neill said.

Mr O'Neill says the group is also concerned about proposals to limit carer payments, include the family home in the aged care means test and peg the pension to a lesser rate.

"I think one of the indications out of this panel has been some extreme views that are reflected in the treatment of older Australians that are really out of touch with reality," he said.

National Union of Students (NUS) president Deanna Taylor says the recommendations to increase university student fees and force graduates to begin repaying education loans when they earn the minimum wage should be rejected outright.

"In Australia students pay amongst the highest fees in the OECD and their debt is already way too high. We should be looking at increasing Government contributions to higher education and not decreasing them," she said.

The NUS is already organising protests against the proposal.

Welfare spending in the firing line

Australian Council of Social Service chief executive Cassandra Goldie says the recommendation to slow down the introduction of the NDIS will hurt many families and changes to welfare payments could force more young people into poverty.

"If it happens to you, if you lose your job, you will need support. This is about the education, the re-skilling, the re-training, working with people to help them into jobs," Dr Goldie said.

As many as 15,000 public service jobs could go if the recommendations to downsize Commonwealth departments are implemented.

But the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) is most concerned about proposed changes to the minimum wage.

"It is a report done by the big end of town, essentially by the Business Council of Australia and the hundred biggest businesses that it represents ," ACTU's Ged Kearney said.

"It delivers for business and is a direct attack on the quality of life and the way of life that Australians have enjoyed for decades."

However some business groups have supported the recommendations.

Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry's John Osborn says the Government needs to take swift action to curb spending, particularly in welfare and health.

"The audit commission report is a very bold and ... a very important report," Mr Osborn said.

"What we are calling for is political leadership. We can't allow this report to sit on the shelf and gather dust as happened with the Henry Tax Review, or much of it."

The Government says it will take some action on budget night and in the years to come.

Topics: budget, government-and-politics, welfare, community-and-society, health-policy, university-and-further-education, australia

First posted