$80 for 90 minutes' work: GP in stand-off with Centrelink
He wants proper remuneration for compiling complex medical reports
29th March 2018
A GP is calling on Centrelink to properly remunerate doctors for their work in completing complex, time-consuming medical reports, after he was offered just $80 for 90 minutes’ work.
Dr Arthur Chesterfield-Evans has taken his case to the Commonwealth Ombudsman, after he spent 30 minutes on the phone to Centrelink regarding a patient, then more than an hour answering the agency’s written medical questions.
“It is just not reasonable to do that for $80,” the Sydney GP says.
“GPs are getting a terrible deal from this. It is part of the general downgrading of