Key Facts

• Victoria Bradley was the only full-time doctor in Streaky Bay, a place where about 3,000 people live.
• She left two years ago because she was exhausted from being on call all the time.
• Australia's healthcare system, which is supposed to take care of everyone, is having trouble.
• The government isn't giving enough money to maintain this system.
• This leads to long waiting times and high costs for patients, making healthcare hard to get for many people.
• The healthcare problem is very important to people voting in the upcoming elections.
• People have to go to big cities for special care, like Mrs. Elliot who found a lump in her breast and had to travel 500km to Adelaide for treatment.
• Australia's healthcare funding comes from both local and national governments. Patients can use their green Medicare card at a doctor's or hospital, and the bill goes to the national government, who pays with money from taxes.
• The Medicare program was created 40 years ago to give more people access to healthcare.