Save our Mental Healthcare Practices! Keep them open and affordable.
The issue
Our ability to access affordable and timely mental health care is under threat.
All Australians will be impacted if the State Governments impose a new payroll tax on Medical Centres and Healthcare Practices. Healthcare providers will be forced to close their doors or increase their fees significantly.
Currently most state governments in Australia are planning to impose a new tax that will see costs soar for Medical Centres and Healthcare Practices. Under the new legislation, all contractors within Medical Centres will be considered employees for the purpose of payroll tax. These Medical Centres may be required to pay retrospective tax bills for the last 5 years, which will see many services unable to continue operating.
This will impact healthcare services across the board, including general practice, dental care, opthamology, psychology....the list is long.
It is worth mentioning that payroll tax is based on the amount an organisation pays out in wages, and is not based on their profit. An organisation could make very little profit (or indeed no profit), and if they employ a lot of staff and contractors and therefore pay out a lot in wages, they will need to pay this payroll tax. For medical centres and healthcare practices that tend to operate on narrow profit margins, this tax could be devastating.
Mental health care has never been more important, with demand higher and waitlists longer than ever. People want support and they are asking for it. If local practices are forced to close their doors, our community will be left waiting on even longer waitlists and paying substantially higher fees to get the support they need.
This is not good enough. If our Mental Healthcare Practices drown, it is our community that suffers. We need to tell the Government that they need to prioritise health and mental health care over the budget right now.
For more information see the below links.
Petition Closed
The issue
Our ability to access affordable and timely mental health care is under threat.
All Australians will be impacted if the State Governments impose a new payroll tax on Medical Centres and Healthcare Practices. Healthcare providers will be forced to close their doors or increase their fees significantly.
Currently most state governments in Australia are planning to impose a new tax that will see costs soar for Medical Centres and Healthcare Practices. Under the new legislation, all contractors within Medical Centres will be considered employees for the purpose of payroll tax. These Medical Centres may be required to pay retrospective tax bills for the last 5 years, which will see many services unable to continue operating.
This will impact healthcare services across the board, including general practice, dental care, opthamology, psychology....the list is long.
It is worth mentioning that payroll tax is based on the amount an organisation pays out in wages, and is not based on their profit. An organisation could make very little profit (or indeed no profit), and if they employ a lot of staff and contractors and therefore pay out a lot in wages, they will need to pay this payroll tax. For medical centres and healthcare practices that tend to operate on narrow profit margins, this tax could be devastating.
Mental health care has never been more important, with demand higher and waitlists longer than ever. People want support and they are asking for it. If local practices are forced to close their doors, our community will be left waiting on even longer waitlists and paying substantially higher fees to get the support they need.
This is not good enough. If our Mental Healthcare Practices drown, it is our community that suffers. We need to tell the Government that they need to prioritise health and mental health care over the budget right now.
For more information see the below links.
The Decision Makers
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Petition created on 21 November 2023