The Zoo scan

The business of general practice, daily

Friday 7 August 2026

Two items. Mark Butler launched nursing's first national workforce plan on Thursday, 28 priorities endorsed by every health minister and built on letting nurses work to full scope. And a breach at telehealth provider Updoc adds to a run of Australian health-sector attacks after Partnered Health, the run that lifts the cyber diligence every practice buyer underwrites.

The herd · market and workforce
Butler wants primary care nurses doing more without a GP looking over their shoulder Confirmed

Mark Butler launched the National Nursing Workforce Strategy at the Australian College of Nursing conference on Thursday, with prescribing rules named as the main barrier to nurses working to full scope. He said he wants primary care nurses doing more without a GP notionally looking over their shoulder. No MBS item has changed yet, so an owner planning next year's roster is still planning it around GPs.

6 August 2026
The Medical Republic: Butler pledges to up value of primary care nurses Health Services Daily: National nursing strategy targets 80,000 workforce gap
Telehealth provider Updoc breached, the latest in a run of health-sector attacks Confirmed

Updoc, an online consultation service that says it has served more than a million patients, told account holders in early August that names, emails and postal addresses were taken after it detected unauthorised access on 31 July. No clinical, Medicare or payment data was involved and its own systems were not breached. RACGP newsGP places it in a run of health-sector breaches after the Partnered Health attack, and it is the run, not this incident, that lifts the cyber diligence a buyer underwrites on any practice.

6 August 2026
RACGP newsGP: Telehealth company hit by data breach news.com.au: Updoc patients notified of security breach
GP practices on the market across five states Confirmed

New South Wales

  • Sydney, a fully equipped medical centre with long lease terms. $200,000. BusinessForSale
  • Penrith, an accredited medical centre. $75,000. BusinessForSale
  • Mid north coast, a DPA and MM5 practice in premises owned by the local health service, which covers rent, equipment and reception. Medical Business Brokers

Victoria

  • Melbourne's northern suburbs, a medical centre. $550,000. BusinessForSale
  • Melbourne's north-west, a long-standing GP practice. $500,000. BusinessForSale
  • Melbourne outer south-east, 5 GPs working 3.5 full-time equivalent, a bulk-billing practice coming to market. Medical Business Brokers

Queensland

  • A fully managed medical centre in an MMM2 and DPA location. $2,595,000. BusinessForSale
  • Hillcrest, a well-established GP practice with the property included. BusinessForSale
  • Bargara, a family medical centre. BusinessForSale

South Australia

  • A long-established surgery with a retiring doctor and an established patient list. BusinessForSale

Western Australia

Two GP practices opened in July Confirmed
  • Appin, NSW, 3 GPs, Appin Healthcare Centre, a fully bulk-billing practice, opened July 2026. Practice website
  • Newcastle West, NSW, 6 GPs, Parry Street Family Practice, a purpose-built private-billing practice, opened July 2026. Practice website
Fresh tracks · what we're watching

Private equity in clinician-owned and adjacent health services, the pool GP buyers come from.

  1. PH Medical Centres, Ryan Plaza and Medicine on Second. The one live Australian GP matter on the ACCC register, MN-15027, was notified on 3 July and is still at Phase 1 with no determination published. Its statutory determination period runs to 14 August, which is next Friday. ACCC acquisitions register
  2. The 30/20 telephone rule. The AMA and the RACGP have asked the government to move the automatic Professional Services Review trigger from 30 phone consults on 20 days to 30 on 50, arguing that a level 3 fuel shortage would push patients onto the phone. An ask, not a change. Australian Doctor, 5 August 2026
  3. Online prescribing and Share by Default. Rules requiring online prescribing information to be shared through My Health Record are expected by December, with medicines information, chronic condition management plans and specialist letters named as the items after that. Health Services Daily, 5 August 2026
  4. Partnered Health. The breach ran in this scan on 4 August. Bupa’s purchase still has foreign investment clearance outstanding and the matter has not appeared on the ACCC register. Cyber Daily, 3 August 2026
  5. Healthscope. The plan to turn the collapsed hospital group into a not-for-profit, approved by its lenders in February, is under pressure from the landlords, who are reluctant to agree to it. Healthcare Business International, 6 August 2026
  6. Qscan and Pacific Equity Partners. Infratil is reported to have granted PEP exclusivity in the auction for the medical imaging group at about $900 million, and Infratil itself has announced nothing. The money aimed at Australian health keeps going to specialised imaging rather than to general practice, because imaging carries the better margin and its demand holds up, and that is the comparison a practice owner is priced against. thebottomline.co.nz, 29 July 2026
  7. The Foreign Investment Review Board condition review. Treasury expects to open public consultation on ineffective conditions in August. Nothing has been published. Treasury: review of ineffective conditions
  8. KKR and FYihealth. The ACCC waived notification on 22 July for KKR’s purchase of FYihealth, an optical group running more than 370 clinics and stores across Canada and the United States whose only Australian business is wholesaling eyewear frames. ACCC determination, 22 July 2026

Talk to the people who track this market

Own a practice and thinking about your exit, this year or in three? Write to kate.marie@mediusglobal.com.au, in confidence.

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