Healthcare Affordability Must Be Paired with Investment in Diagnostic Infrastructure – PTA’s response to the 2026 Federal Health Budget
“Diagnostics inform 70% of medical decisions. Without investment in the pathology services, technology, and infrastructure that enable accurate, timely diagnosis, we risk creating a bottleneck where patients can afford to see their GP but can’t access the tests they need for appropriate care,” says Dean Whiting, PTA CEO. “We should be moving Australia’s healthcare system to be more predictive, preventative and personalised, and there is little in this budget to start that transition.”
PTA welcomes the Federal Government’s commitment to funding new public hospitals, cheaper medicines, and more Urgent Care Clinics – all aimed at improving healthcare affordability for Australian patients. Investment for medical research and clinical trials earmarked in this budget, is also long overdue. The mention of a budget allocation for health preventative measures does not appear to address many of the real opportunities where our sector’s technology can have the biggest impact, and more needs to be done.
As we await the fine print of where and how the cost-saving measures will impact, we believe this budget for health remains largely with band aid measures that neglect to address the longer-term sustainability challenges facing Australian healthcare.
Read our full statement here PTA Response to 2026 May Budget