The ANU has just announced plans to “go to market” on the contract to run the ANU Medical Centre. This comes less than 12 months after the university was forced to reverse its initial privatisation of the clinic when the organisation it was outsourced to in 2017, the National Health Co-op, went bankrupt.

ANU has also announced that the clinic will no longer be bulk-billed for staff. ANU has also decided to charge staff at the high end of market prices at $90 for a 15 minute consultation, $150 to discuss more than one issue, for a mental health consultation, or if you need paperwork completed, and $250 for a prolonged consultation.

Healthcare should not be for profit. Rather than allowing a private company to run the Medical Centre in the pursuit of profit, the ANU must continue to provide an in-house bulk-billing clinic for students and staff. This means being prepared to subsidise the cost of this service in order to guarantee access to healthcare on campus. 

It’s possible for the ANU to do this. The university recorded a $232.4 million surplus in 2021. We have to fight for the ANU to put students’ and staff’s health before the university administration’s profits. The fight against privatisation is also a fight against possible pay cuts and job losses for the staff working at the clinic.

Bulk-billing is in crisis around the country. Nowhere is this more pressing than Canberra, which has the lowest bulk-billing rate of any electorate. This demonstrates a disturbing trend of huge firms who are increasingly unwilling to run a loss on profits to provide a human necessity, and shifting the cost onto working people. 

Sign the petition now to defend the ANU Medical Centre from privatisation!