Victoria’s equal opportunity and human rights commissioner, Kristen Hilton, has warned that a Melbourne doctors’ clinic which is believed to be charging patients more to see a female doctor may be breaking the law.
A Twitter user shared a photo of the Myhealth North Eltham clinic’s pricing information, which states it costs patients $7 more to see a female doctor for a standard consultation or an extended consultation than to see a male doctor for consultations of the same type. The clinic refused to share its prices when called by Guardian Australia and has not responded to a request for comment.
This is so fucked. My friend @TheMilkeWay goes to Eltham North Clinic in #Victoria and they’ve just instituted extra fees for female doctors because “women’s issues take longer.” Surely this is illegal? pic.twitter.com/Vwm0aafM1z
— Maeve Marsden (@maevemarsden) May 23, 2018
“Under the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 it is against the law for doctors to treat someone unfavourably because of their gender,” Hilton told Guardian Australia. “This could include charging someone more to see a doctor because they are female.
“We know that some women need or prefer to see a female doctor. So, the practice of charging more to see a female doctor may be discriminatory.”
It is unclear why the clinic has introduced the difference in fees, though the woman who shared the image of the pricing, Maeve Marsden, said her friend was told by the clinic it was because “women’s issues take longer”. After allowing for the Medicare rebate, the difference in pricing is 35c.
According to Fairfax Media, the federal health minister, Greg Hunt, has referred the clinic to the state’s health complaints commissioner for investigation.
“The minister is deeply concerned,” a spokeswoman for the minister said. “Not only is this practice offensive, it is potentially discriminatory.”
