The Facts: What Is Changing

On 11 February 2026, Health Minister Mark Butler confirmed on ABC News Breakfast that he will introduce legislation this week to mandate disclosure of specialist out-of-pocket fees via the government’s Medical Costs Finder website. He described the issue as the “barbecue stopper” in Australian healthcare and said: “We wanted them voluntarily to publish those fees, and they just refuse to do so. So I’m going to do it for them.”

This has been building since March 2025, when Butler announced the existing Medical Costs Finder — a $24 million voluntary platform set up under the Morrison Government — had failed, with just 7 of approximately 11,000 eligible specialists uploading fees by end of 2022, rising to only around 70 three years later. In an ABC Radio Perth interview (17 March 2025), he was blunt: “The whole problem is it doesn’t really work at all.” He cited that more than 1 in 3 Australians reported bill shock for private procedures and noted wide fee variation for the same procedure in the same area.

What the legislation will do: The upgraded site will display average fees for every eligible non-GP specialist using Medicare data, updated quarterly. Private health insurers will be required to publish their gap-fee arrangements with specialists. The bill will also outlaw “phoenixing” — where insurers shut down a policy plan and replace it with a more expensive one. Butler has acknowledged he cannot constitutionally set private specialist fees, but can mandate transparency.

Our View: What This Means for Specialists

This legislation will fundamentally change how patients choose specialists. For the first time, prospective patients will compare what you charge against others in your area and specialty — before they’ve walked through your door.

Right now, most referrals follow a familiar path: a GP gives a name, the patient books in, and price is discovered late. Butler himself noted patients should be able to tell their GP: “I’m concerned about fees, can I have a bit of a think about the options?” With fee transparency, they will do exactly that. They will research, compare, and choose. Price will sit alongside reputation, trust, and clinical outcomes in that decision.

Specialists who charge above-average fees without a visible, well-communicated reason will face scrutiny. Those whose reputations are built purely on referral pipelines and word of mouth — without any public-facing presence — will find themselves vulnerable to comparison on price alone. In every industry where price transparency has arrived, the providers who thrive are those who clearly communicate their value.

Getting Ready: Five Practical Steps

1. Audit your public presence
   Search your own name. What does a patient find? If it’s a bare hospital directory listing or an outdated website, that’s the first thing to fix. When a patient compares your fees against a competitor, your online presence becomes the tiebreaker. It needs to clearly communicate who you are, what you specialise in, and why you’re worth the investment.
2. Define your value proposition
   Training, surgical volume, outcomes, patient care standards, follow-up protocols — these all matter. But if none of it is visible to a patient making a comparison on a government website, it doesn’t exist in their decision. Articulate what sets you apart, clearly and confidently, in language patients and their families understand.
3. Strengthen your referral relationships
   GP referrals aren’t going away, but they’ll carry a new dynamic. When patients can see fee comparisons, GPs will be asked to justify their recommendations. Provide referring GPs with clear, current information about your approach, your fees, and the value their patients will receive. A well-informed referrer is your strongest marketing channel.
4. Get your digital foundations right
   A professional website, a credible LinkedIn presence, current Google Business listings, and genuine patient testimonials (within AHPRA guidelines) all shape the picture a patient forms when they research you. It doesn’t need to be flashy. It needs to be professional, current, and consistent with the quality of care you deliver.
5. Get ahead of fee communication
   Transparency isn’t just about a government website. It’s about how you communicate fees directly. Clear, upfront cost communication before treatment builds trust and reduces the bill shock driving this legislation. Practices that get ahead of this will be the ones patients trust the most.

The Bottom Line

Price transparency is coming whether the profession is ready or not. When patients can see what you charge, they need to be able to see why. That’s a branding and positioning challenge — and the time to address it is now.

Want to talk about positioning your practice ahead of this change?

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