“I Never Agreed to That”: Bulk Billing, Medicare Consent and Treatment You Didn’t Authorise
Summary
Bulk billing depends on your consent to assign your Medicare benefit to your provider. New rules from 1 July 2026 changed how that consent is collected. Separately, any treatment needs your informed consent. This guide is for people who were billed for something they didn’t agree to, found services on their Medicare history they didn’t receive, or had a procedure they didn’t consent to. It explains your rights and options.
Quick answer · updated November 2026
Providers must get your consent to bulk bill and keep a record of it; from 1 July 2026 that consent can be given on paper, electronically, or verbally until 30 June 2027. You can check your Medicare history online. Billing consent is different from consent to treatment: a procedure done without your informed consent raises separate concerns. Both are worth raising.
Billing and consent at a glance
- 1Billing consentAssigning your Medicare benefit.
- 2July 2026New ways to give consent.
- 3Check your historyYour Medicare online account.
- 4Treatment consentA separate, more important consent.
- 5Raising itClinic, Medicare, HCCC.
At any stage: if a procedure was done without your consent and you are unwell, get medical care first.
I went to a skin clinic for a check of one mole. The doctor said it looked fine.
Then she said she’d “just freeze a few spots” while I was there. Before I’d really answered, she’d done six.
Weeks later I logged into my Medicare account. There were item numbers for procedures I didn’t recognise, and a consultation on a day I wasn’t there.
Nobody had asked me to sign anything.
A composite story, drawn from the experiences of many families I have worked with, combined and changed so that no one can be identified. It does not describe any individual client.
If you found services on your Medicare record you didn’t agree to, or had a procedure done without your real consent, I want you to know that your concerns are legitimate. Consent, both to treatment and to billing, is your right.
This guide covers bulk billing consent, the 2026 changes, how to check your history, consent to treatment, and where to take concerns.
Why I can write this
I have been a medical negligence lawyer since 2014 and have worked on many hundreds of claims, including many involving consent. My doctorate looked at patterns of failure in medical negligence. I am not medically qualified. The clinical facts in this article are checked against named sources, listed in the references, and I explain how I work in our editorial standards.
Start with your question
- What is bulk billing consent?
- What changed on 1 July 2026?
- How do I check what was billed?
- Is billing consent the same as consent to treatment?
- What if I was billed for a service I didn’t receive?
- Where can I complain?
- Could treatment without consent be a claim?
Bulk billing consent
Bulk billing works because you consent to your provider claiming your Medicare benefit directly, so you pay nothing for that service.1 Services Australia says providers must get patient consent to assign the benefit and must keep a record of it.2
Definition
Assignment of benefit means your agreement that your provider can claim your Medicare benefit directly.
In plain terms: your “yes” that lets them bulk bill.
The 1 July 2026 changes
From 1 July 2026, consent can be given before or after your appointment, on paper or electronically, and verbally until 30 June 2027. People registered with MyMedicare can give consent once for future visits.1 The requirements also apply in hospital settings.2
Checking what was billed
You can see which services Medicare has paid for in your Medicare online account.1 Check dates, item numbers and providers.
Questions to ask
- What exactly did you bill, and under what item numbers?
- Where is the record of my consent?
- Why was this service billed on this date?
- Can you correct the claim?
Consent to treatment is different
Agreeing to bulk billing is not agreeing to a procedure. Any treatment needs your informed consent: information about what is proposed, the risks and alternatives, and your voluntary agreement.3 A procedure done without that consent raises serious concerns, whether or not it was billed correctly. Our guide to informed consent and undisclosed risks explains the law.
Services you didn’t receive
If your Medicare history shows services you didn’t receive, raise it with the provider and with Services Australia, and keep copies of your history.
If you are unwell
See your GP
- A wound or blister that isn’t healing
- Pain after an unexpected procedure
In plain terms: have it checked and recorded.
Urgent
- Spreading redness or fever
- Heavy bleeding
In plain terms: seek care today.
Where to raise it
Start with the clinic. Concerns about a practitioner’s conduct, including treatment without consent, can go to the Health Care Complaints Commission in NSW.4 Our guide to complaint or claim explains the options.
I asked the clinic for my records and the consent record for bulk billing. They couldn’t produce one. The notes listed six cryotherapy treatments and a “skin cancer excision consult” I never had.
Two of the frozen spots blistered badly and left white scars on my face.
I complained to the clinic and to the HCCC, and reported the billing to Services Australia.
My daughter helped me screenshot my Medicare history. “They used your card like it was theirs,” she said.
A composite story, drawn from the experiences of many families I have worked with, combined and changed so that no one can be identified. It does not describe any individual client.
What to look for in the records
Your records are often where the story becomes clear. You have a right to access your own health information. In NSW the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 covers both public and private providers, and the Information and Privacy Commission explains how to ask.5 Our step-by-step guide to getting your medical records in Australia walks you through it.
| Record | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Medicare history | Services claimed in your name. |
| Clinic notes | What was actually done. |
| Billing consent record | Proof you agreed to bulk billing. |
| Treatment consent | Whether you agreed to each procedure. |
| Photos | Any injury from unwanted treatment. |
| Correspondence | Your complaint and responses. |
| Your own diary, photos and messages | Notes made at the time are evidence too. Keep them. |
How the law looks at it
Billing errors are usually administrative matters for Medicare and the provider. But treatment given without your consent can be both a professional conduct issue and a legal claim, and it is always worth looking into.
A claim usually turns on three questions: whether the care fell below what peers would widely accept as competent practice (section 5O of the Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW))6, whether that shortfall probably caused harm you wouldn't otherwise have had (Tabet v Gett)7, and, where it matters, whether you were told the material risks first (Rogers v Whitaker)83. Our guide to how a medical negligence claim works explains each one in plain terms.
In a consent case, the questions might be: did you agree to the procedure, with information about risks and alternatives? Was consent obtained before treatment? Did the treatment cause harm, such as scarring?
In plain terms, the question is whether, without the unauthorised treatment, the harm would not have happened.
Any procedure, however small, needs your informed agreement before it starts.
Who can claim, and when
The person treated can claim. In NSW, time usually runs from when you knew, or ought to have known, enough to claim, not from the treatment itself, and courts can sometimes extend it, so an old injury may still count. See time limits in NSW or other states, and ask early.
More: complaint or claim? · how a claim is paid for · what a claim can cover
In my practice
In files like these, the clinic notes and the Medicare history often don’t match the patient’s memory, and there is no consent record at all. People are often reluctant to complain about “small” procedures. But consent is not a small matter, and the records usually speak for themselves.
Both things can be true
The clinic may have meant well, and still have done things you didn’t agree to and billed for things you didn’t receive. Both can be true.
The bigger picture
The 2026 assignment of benefit changes aim to make bulk billing consent clearer for patients and providers.2 You can check a practitioner on the Ahpra public register,9 and complaints about care in NSW can go to the Health Care Complaints Commission.4 Our guide to getting your medical records explains how to ask for your file.
Support
You don't have to work through this alone. These services can help:
- Lifeline, 24-hour crisis support: 13 11 14 (listed on healthdirect's helplines page)10
- Beyond Blue, anxiety and depression support: 1300 22 4636
- Medicare Mental Health, help finding mental health support: 1800 595 212
- healthdirect, 24-hour nurse advice: 1800 022 222
- Health Care Complaints Commission (NSW): 1800 043 159
A woman who agreed to one mole check now has her Medicare history in her hands. You deserve that clarity too.
With care,
Rosemary
Frequently asked questions
What is bulk billing consent?
Your agreement for the provider to claim your Medicare benefit directly.
What changed on 1 July 2026?
Consent can be given before or after, on paper or electronically, and verbally until 30 June 2027.
How do I check what Medicare paid?
Log in to your Medicare online account.
Is billing consent the same as consent to treatment?
No. Treatment needs separate informed consent.
What if I was billed for a service I didn’t get?
Raise it with the provider and Services Australia.
Can I claim for treatment I didn’t consent to?
You may well have a claim if it was done without your informed consent and caused harm.
Treated or billed without your consent?
When you're ready, and not before, I can look at what happened and help you understand your options.
Consent guides
- “If I’d known, I wouldn’t have agreed”
- “I never agreed to that”: Bulk billing, Medicare consent and treatment you didn’t authorise (you are here)
- Consent before spinal surgery
- Open disclosure
Part of our guide to surgical errors and hospital negligence. Not sure where you stand? Try the free claim checker.
References
- Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. Assignment of Medicare benefits for bulk billing: fact sheet for patients. 2026.
- Services Australia. New assignment of benefit consent requirements from 1 July 2026.
- Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care. Informed consent.
- Health Care Complaints Commission NSW. Home page.
- Information and Privacy Commission NSW. Fact sheet: Accessing your health information in NSW.
- Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW) s 5O, Standard of care for professionals.
- Tabet v Gett [2010] HCA 12.
- Rogers v Whitaker [1992] HCA 58; (1992) 175 CLR 479.
- Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency. Register of practitioners.
- healthdirect Australia. Mental health helplines.
Stories in this article are composites, drawn from the experiences of many families I have worked with, combined and changed so that no one can be identified. They do not describe any individual client.
Dr Rosemary Listing, PhD (Law), Medical negligence lawyer since 2014 · Of Counsel, Peter Evans & Associates. Rosemary's doctorate examined patterns of failure in medical negligence, and she teaches health law at the University of Newcastle. She is not medically qualified. About Rosemary.
Last updated: 10 November 2026 · First published: 10 November 2026 · Next review: May 2027
Cite this article: Listing R. “I never agreed to that”: Bulk billing, Medicare consent and treatment you didn’t authorise. Reframe Legal. Published 10 November 2026. https://reframelegal.com/bulk-billing-consent/
This article is general information, not legal or medical advice. It does not create a lawyer–client relationship. Speak to your treating clinicians about your health, and get legal advice about your own situation.
If you are in danger or need urgent medical help, call 000. For crisis support, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.
Legal services are provided by Peter Evans & Associates.
