In a weekly On Campus email sent out on 3 December 2024, the ANU informed students that three long-serving part-time doctors will be retiring from the ANU Medical Centre, significantly reducing the availability of the Medical Centre’s General Practitioner appointments. The changes will take place from 14 December 2024. Certain services such as Mental Health Care Plans and Worker’s Compensation Claims will also be “temporarily unavailable” for the foreseeable future.
The On Campus email only confirmed that three part-time doctors, Dr Mike Tedeschi, Dr Craig Corr and Dr Phillip Hope, will retire in December. However, the Canberra Times has reported that the remaining two general practitioners will also retire before the start of Semester 1 2025, with one reportedly to “leave after resigning in December” and the fifth “likely to retire early next year.”
This will leave over 17,000 students with only one full-time and one part-time nurse practitioner, with an ANU Medical Centre receptionist telling the Canberra Times, “We have real concerns about the safety of the care that we’ll be able to provide.”
ANU has said they are actively looking for new GPs, but in the midst of a nationwide shortage, there may be a delay.
The International Students Department Officer, Seungbin Kang, told Woroni that these changes would be “horrible for many international students” under their Overseas Students Health Coverage (OSHC) with this announcement happening late in the year and “impacting particularly international and students with disabilities.”
Kang said: “International students coming to the ANU are recommended by the university to apply for Allianz Care OSHC in order to meet their visa health insurance requirements.” Accordingly, the ANU’s page on OSHC defaults to ‘Allianz Care Australia’.
He explained that “A majority of students are on this health coverage insurance, and the changes to the medical centre deprive students under Allianz and other OSHC coverage from any bulk billing clinics in proximity to the campus.”
Kang continued:
“This is not enough for students who require urgent medical support, with many students already previously having concerns about the wait times at the ANU Medical Centre now faced with an even more dire situation with significantly lowered availability if any in the medical centre. This is not enough.”
Despite increased bulk billing incentives over the past 13 months, bulk billing rates in the ACT remain the lowest of any state or territory. Struggles are exacerbated due to the nationwide GP shortage, which is expected to worsen according to a Department of Health and Aged Care report.
In the meantime, ANU recommends that students needing a Mental Health Care Plan or Worker’s Compensation Claim “plan accordingly by seeing a local/alternative GP” and that “all staff and students with ongoing medical needs seek a GP to get a six-month supply of any regular medications, and to have any other medical needs met, including documentation or supporting letters”.
Students seeking support or advice can access it from the following contacts:
ANU Student Association (ANUSA) Assistance Team –
+62 2 6125 2444
International Students’ Department –
anuisd.info@gmail.com (general email)
sa.international@anu.edu.au (ANUSA International Officer’s email)
ANU Student Central –
+61 2 6125 3339
We acknowledge the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people, who are the Traditional Custodians of the land on which Woroni, Woroni Radio and Woroni TV are created, edited, published, printed and distributed. We pay our respects to Elders past and present. We acknowledge that the name Woroni was taken from the Wadi Wadi Nation without permission, and we are striving to do better for future reconciliation.