The Grattan Institute analysed Bureau of Statistics and Australian Institute of Health and Welfare data from 2018 to 2024, which showed that 2 million Australians were forgoing specialist treatment every year, and half of those were because they could not afford it.
The institute's research into specialist care found that although seven in eight GPs in Australia offered bulk-billing to some patients, it was just one in three for specialists.
It also found that since 2010, specialist fees had risen by 73 per cent on top of inflation.