Assignment of Benefit Update: The 12-Month Reprieve and Enduring Assignment of Benefit

Background: What Prompted the Backdown

Assignment of benefit is the agreement by which a patient assigns their Medicare benefit to the practitioner — the legal basis for bulk billing under the Health Insurance Act 1973. The long-promised modernisation of this process was legislated to commence on 1 July 2026, replacing verbal consent and the old approved paper forms (the DB4e and DB020) with a signature-based model and a defined data set.

As originally framed, the reform would have required a compliant electronic or physical signature for every bulk-billed service from day one, with verbal consent abolished across all settings, including telehealth. The RACGP, AMA and others warned this hard cutover created real risks: vulnerable patients in aged care, palliative care and disability care who cannot sign and may have no authorised person present; patients who simply never respond to a consent request; and a slow leak of bulk-billing revenue as claims were rejected for want of a matching signature.

In June 2026 the Government responded with a package of concessions — described in the sector as a “common-sense delay.” The core reform stands, but its sharpest edges have been deferred. Two changes matter most for GPs: a 12-month transition that preserves verbal consent, and an enduring assignment of benefit option brought forward to 1 July 2026.

The Change in Detail

What has not changed

The modernisation itself remains in place, and the destination is unchanged:

• After the transition, a signature — electronic or physical — from the patient or a responsible person will be required, and verbal consent will no longer be accepted (including for telehealth).
• The practitioner no longer co-signs each agreement.
• There is no mandatory template. An agreement is valid provided it captures the required data set for the relevant service provided. Services Australia has published optional templates accessible here.
• You must keep a copy of each completed AoB agreement for two years and provide a copy to the patient on request.

For the full operational set-up — digital SMS/email consent, the ACMA SMS Sender ID Register, and how to brief your team — see our original guide.

The 12-month transition: verbal AoB survives (for now)

This is the headline concession. From 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027, verbal assignment of benefit will be accepted in all settings, including telehealth. The Department has indicated it will use the 12 months to explore further regulatory and legislative options to reduce the administrative burden on practices and patients while protecting Medicare’s integrity — with particular attention to patients who cannot sign. Unless the rules change again, a compliant signature will be required from 1 July 2027.

Enduring AoB from 1 July 2026: who is eligible

Originally signalled as a later (2027) development, the enduring assignment of benefit has been brought forward to 1 July 2026. An enduring AoB is a standing consent that covers ongoing bulk-billed GP services, so the patient does not re-consent at every visit. It can be made by the patient directly or by a person acting on their behalf. Three groups are eligible:

• MyMedicare-registered patients: may make one enduring agreement to receive services from all general practitioners at their registered MyMedicare practice, if the practice offers it.
• Residential aged care residents: may make multiple enduring agreements with different practitioners.
• ACCHO/AMS patients: may make an enduring agreement with the service, and may hold multiple agreements with multiple ACCHOs or AMSs.

Compliance: education before enforcement

The Department has signalled that initial compliance activity will focus on prevention and education rather than punitive enforcement, recognising that practices and software vendors are still adapting their workflows.

How to Record an Enduring AoB for MyMedicare Patients

For a MyMedicare practice, the enduring AoB is the most valuable part of this reform: one standing consent replaces repeated per-visit consent for your registered cohort. Here is how to capture it well.

What the agreement must contain. Build your enduring AoB wording around the required data set in subsection 65C(4) (F2025L00983). In practice that means:

• The patient’s identity and Medicare details (and the assignor’s details, if someone signs on the patient’s behalf).
• A clear statement that the patient assigns their Medicare benefit for bulk-billed services.
• That the assignment is enduring and ongoing — not a single episode of care — and its scope: all GPs at the named MyMedicare practice.
• The date the agreement is made.
• A signature that is identifiable, auditable and compliant with the Electronic Transactions Act 1999 — electronic or physical.

Where to record it. Store the agreement against the patient’s record in your clinical or practice-management software, flagged to their MyMedicare registration at your practice. The exact fields and workflow are vendor-specific — confirm the timing and method with Best Practice, MedicalDirector, Zedmed or your PMS provider, as several vendors are releasing updates around go-live.

Retention and access. Retain the agreement for at least two years, and for as long as it remains in force. Be able to provide the patient a copy on request.

Revocation and review. A patient can withdraw an enduring AoB at any time. Build a simple process to record a withdrawal, and to re-confirm consent if the patient leaves your MyMedicare practice or their Medicare details change.

Why act during the transition. Even though verbal AoB is accepted until 30 June 2027, capturing enduring agreements for your MyMedicare patients now removes per-visit consent friction immediately and future-proofs you for the signature requirement that returns once the transition ends.

Clinical and Practical Implications

For most GPs, the immediate pressure is off. You can continue to bulk bill with verbal consent in all settings until 30 June 2027, which buys time for vulnerable-patient workflows in aged care, palliative and disability care to be resolved rather than improvised on 1 July.

The strategic opportunity is MyMedicare. Practices that have invested in MyMedicare registration are rewarded here: a single enduring agreement covers all GPs in the practice, cutting repeated consent for your most loyal patients and supporting continuity of care. The reform quietly strengthens the case for driving MyMedicare registration.

The one obligation that does bite from day one is record-keeping. The two-year retention rule applies regardless of whether consent was captured verbally, on paper or digitally. It would be a mistake to let the verbal reprieve lull the practice into not keeping records — the audit trail is exactly what the modernisation is designed to produce.

What You Need to Do

1. Brief your team that verbal AoB remains acceptable in all settings until 30 June 2027 — there is no need to chase a signature for every bulk-billed service from 1 July.
2. Confirm your record-keeping captures and retains AoB evidence for two years, whatever the method, and can produce a copy for a patient on request.
3. Identify your MyMedicare-registered patients and decide how and when you will offer them an enduring AoB.
4. Check with your PMS vendor (Best Practice, MedicalDirector, Zedmed, or other) on when and how an enduring AoB can be recorded in your software.
5. Draft your enduring AoB wording to capture the subsection 65C(4) data set, including that it is ongoing and covers all GPs at your practice.
6. Set up a revocation process and a way to re-confirm consent if a patient’s circumstances or details change.
7. Keep your original 1 July set-up on track — digital consent and SMS sender ID registration — so you are ready when the signature requirement returns. See our original guide.
8. Monitor the Department’s FAQ updates and your rejected and pending claims through the transition.

Summary

• Effective date: 1 July 2026, with a 12-month transition to 30 June 2027.
• Headline concession: verbal AoB accepted in all settings for 12 months, telehealth included.
• Enduring AoB: available from 1 July 2026 for MyMedicare patients, residential aged care residents, and ACCHO/AMS patients.
• MyMedicare specifics: one enduring agreement covers all GPs at the registered practice, if offered.
• Record-keeping: retain agreements for two years and provide a copy on request — the one day-one obligation.
• Compliance: education and prevention first, not immediate enforcement.
• GP/practice action: use the transition to set up enduring AoB for MyMedicare patients and to get record-keeping right.
• Source: Department of Health, Disability and Ageing (Improving the assignment of benefit process; Assignment of Medicare benefits for bulk billing FAQ, June 2026); Health Insurance Amendment (Assignment of Medicare Benefits and Other Measures) Regulations 2025 (F2025L00983); RACGP and AMA advocacy updates, June 2026.

This article is intended as educational information for Australian general practitioners and practice managers and is not a substitute for the official Department of Health, Disability and Ageing guidance or advice from your clinical software vendor. Implementation detail is still being finalised — always confirm against the current departmental FAQ and your software’s release notes. Provider enquiries can be directed to AssignmentofBenefit@health.gov.au.