As the Medibank Group turned 50 on 1 October 2026, its story overlaps with Medicare, the creation of our modern health system and the way Australians think about illness and
wellbeing.
For many Australians, the green Medicare card is simply part of life. It’s tucked away in wallets, hidden in drawers or forgotten about until someone asks to see it – often without a second thought.
Yet few pieces of plastic have done more to shape modern Australia. Behind it sits a simple but powerful idea: that people across Australia should be able to access healthcare when they need it, from the mundane to the life-threatening, regardless of their circumstances.
Its history is intertwined with Medibank’s own story. It’s why this 50-year story matters. Medibank was one of the most significant social reforms of the post-war era, and a coalition of powerful interests fought to stop it.
The Senate blocked the original bills before a joint sitting pushed them through, enabling the Whitlam government to launch the new scheme on July 1, 1975.
It took real nerve to build something that ambitious with so much lined up against it. The Fraser government then changed the model, adding a levy and giving more space to private cover.
With this, the government established Medibank Private on October 1, 1976, marking the beginning of our own distinct journey within Australia’s health system.
The Hawke government brought universal cover back in 1984 under a new name, Medicare, while Medibank Private continued on its path before it was corporatised in 1997 and listed on the ASX in 2014.
Over the past half-century, a lot has changed, with demand for services shifting in response to demographic trends and evolving consumer needs and expectations.
Today, Australia’s health system is one of the best in the world, but it’s under pressure.
Since 1976, Australia’s population has nearly doubled from 14 million to 27.8 million, with the proportion aged 65 and over jumping from 9 per cent to 17 per cent.
Fifty years ago, Australians were more likely to die prematurely from cardiovascular disease and injury, driven by high smoking rates and lower safety standards.
Today, people in Australia are living around 11 years longer compared to 1976. Yet a greater proportion of those extra years are spent in ill health, with around 60 per cent of adults living with at least one chronic condition, while rates of mental ill health have also increased substantially.
Dementia has now overtaken heart disease as Australia’s leading cause of death, illustrating a broader shift from acute illness to long-term, age-related conditions.
Artificial intelligence may be the next big shift, with the potential to change how disease is prevented, diagnosed and treated. But we cannot assume that AI will always act in a patient’s interest. Left unchecked, the algorithm will follow the money, creating a real risk that people will be taken advantage of when they are at their most vulnerable.
In health, AI must be safe, accountable and designed around what is best for each person’s health. Healthcare is fundamentally human. Technology should strengthen that, not replace it.
While technology will be part of the solution, it will not resolve the pressure building across the system on its own.
Today, under the Medibank and ahm brands, Medibank offers private cover in a competitive environment. People value the choice and shorter waits it offers, but they feel every premium rise.
Medicare is about universal access and the idea that adequate healthcare should not depend on your personal wealth. It’s the system’s safety net.
It’s the dynamic balance at the heart of Australian health, and this is where the two anniversaries meet.
Independent modelling estimates privately funded hospital activity delivered a net benefit of about $836 billion over 50 years in 2026 dollars.
The model counts about 100 million avoided public hospital visits, 318 million public bed-days saved over 50 years, as well as almost 28,000 equivalent public beds freed in the latest year.
These are modelled estimates, not cash in a bank account.
But the message is clear. Private health has helped Medicare by expanding system capacity, absorbing demand for elective surgery, supporting workforce development and accelerating the adoption of innovations such as day surgery and virtual care.
Yet pressure on both the public and private systems continues to build, even as health spending rises.
But the problem isn’t so much how much we spend as where. Most of our health dollars go to treating people once they’re unwell. We’ve built a hospital-based sick care system, when the biggest gains are in prevention, primary care and care in people’s homes.
Given our current needs in health, care today is more about helping people avoid or live with complex conditions. This takes care that’s connected, with the GP, specialist, hospital, pharmacist, physiotherapist and psychologist working from the same picture instead of leaving patients to join the dots.
For households, the debate in health right now is more basic. Will the GP bulk bill?
How big is the out-of-pocket at the specialist? Can dad get his knee done before next winter?
Medicare is loved because it gives everyone access to healthcare when they need it most. It’s foundational to our health system and one of the greatest success stories of our nation. The green card still gives us a sense of pride.
Fifty years ago, it took nerve to build our health system – both public and private. It remains the envy of the world. Our job now is to show the same nerve in writing its next chapter, because what we have is no longer fit for purpose.
As the Medibank Group marked 50 years on 1 October 2026, we know that a strong, functioning health system is one where both the public and private sectors work together.
We began with the ambition of giving people in Australia greater choice and control in how they access healthcare. Half a century on, although our world now looks very different, that purpose still defines us and the contribution Medibank, ahm and Amplar Health make to the health system.
Right now, we are at a critical juncture. Preserving and strengthening Australia’s health system will require sustained reform, continuous innovation in care models and increased adoption of technology. This change will require genuine partnership between government, the health sector and the community.
Transformational change is essential if we are to meet growing consumer health needs and to keep our health system one of the best in the world.
David Koczkar is Medibank Group CEO