From 1 July 2026, practices are expected to move towards obtaining a valid Assignment of Benefit (AoB) from the patient in writing, either via a physical or electronic signature, before a bulk bill claim is submitted. The Department has confirmed a 12-month transition period during which verbal consent continues to be accepted for all bulk billed patients, in all settings, so this is not yet mandatory.

If you're not bulk billing, no action is required.

Here's what this means for your practice and the options available to you.

When a patient is bulk billed, they are agreeing to assign their Medicare benefit directly to the practice instead of receiving it themselves. Previously, this could be done verbally - including for telehealth consultations during the COVID-19 pandemic - however concerns were raised about the legal risks of verbal-only consent.

From 1 July 2026, a written signature, either physical or electronic, is the new standard. Paper forms remain a valid option. A 12-month transition period allows verbal consent to continue to be accepted while practices move towards this new standard.

For more details on the background and reasoning behind these changes, you can refer to the official government guidance:

Not immediately. The 12-month transition period means verbal consent can still be used for bulk billed patients while you decide how to move towards a signed AoB process.

If you're not bulk billing, no action is required.

If you are bulk billing, some methods are already compliant, while others will need a solution in place as you transition away from verbal consent. Read the options below to understand where your practice stands.

Rather than bulk billing, you can charge the patient the Medicare rebate amount at the time of their appointment and submit a patient claim on their behalf. The patient pays the rebate amount upfront, and Medicare will then reimburse the full amount directly into their bank account -- generally within 24 hours. This avoids the AoB requirement entirely and is a straightforward option for practices wanting to sidestep the new consent process.

This option can be processed via Tyro Health Online or through the Tyro Health EFTPOS integration. See the relevant PracSuite help guides for step-by-step instructions:

If you process bulk bill claims through a Tyro Health EFTPOS terminal, no changes are required. The patient confirms their Assignment of Benefit directly on the terminal as part of the existing Medicare Easyclaim process, which is already recognised as compliant with the new AoB requirements. No separate paper or electronic form needs to be completed.

For further information, see the links below:

If you use a HICAPS terminal, the patient confirms their Assignment of Benefit directly on the terminal, which is also considered compliant with the new requirements. No separate form is needed.

As HICAPS terminals do not currently integrate with browser-based software like PracSuite, this process needs to be handled manually on the terminal rather than through the software.

If you submit bulk bill claims through Tyro Health Online, PracSuite now supports capturing a signed AoB directly within your claiming workflow, either via PracSuite (SMS, email, or QR code) or via Tyro Health Online (automatic SMS request). See Medicare Bulk Bill Assignment of Benefit for full details on how this works and how to set it up.

If you haven't enabled this yet, note that Tyro Health Online still produces an assignment of benefits form after submitting a claim. This form can be printed to obtain the patient's signature in person.

The option to print the form is displayed after submitting a bulk bill claim via Tyro Health Online.

It can also be printed from the Tyro Health Online tab of the patient file.