Australia’s primary care COVID-19 response

General practice is absolutely central to national and local responses to COVID-19 in Australia, and the nation is building a response on the basis of its very strong system of primary healthcare. Australia’s publicly funded universal health insurance scheme, Medicare, is the main source of payment for healthcare services across the country, including for services provided in general practice.1 The majority of primary care services are delivered by doctors, nurses and other health professionals working in general practices in urban, regional, rural and remote locations across the continent.