Second wave of Medicare Locals announced
An additional 38 Medicare Locals have been announced by Health Minister Nicola Roxon today.
However, only 18 of the new Medicare Locals will be established from 1 January 2012, while the remaining 20 will be part of a third wave of 25 Medicare Locals to commence from 1 July 2012.
In total there will be 62 Medicare Locals, including the 19 that have already been announced and which are in the process of being established from “high performing”divisions of general practice.
The Medicare Locals to start in January are:
NSW: Illawarra-Shoalhaven, Nepean-Blue Mountains, North Coast NSW, Northern Sydney and Western NSW;
Victoria: Bayside, Frankston-Mornington Peninsula, Loddon-Mallee-Murray, Lower Murray Macedon Ranges and North Western Melbourne, South Eastern Melbourne;
Queensland: Central and North West Queensland, Darling Downs- South West Queensland;
South Australia: Northern Adelaide, Southern Adelaide-Fleurieu;
WA: Fremantle, Goldfields-Midwest, Rockingham-Kwinana-Peel.
Health minister Nicola Roxon said further work was needed for Medicare Locals for North Eastern Sydney and Hunter Rural in NSW, Great South Coast and South Western Melbourne in Victoria and Kimberley-Pilbara in Western Australia.
