
Your doctors’ advertising could decide who wears the next negligence or any other claim, and the taxman with it
A practice manager email address pulled one of our clients into a patient complaint that had nothing to do with them. The same paperwork decides whether you pay payroll tax. Here is the 24 point audit we now run on every practice.

First principles: paying practitioners on receipts (it is a little more complicated than you think).
A practice manager asked David Dahm for a cheat sheet. This is it. Use it as a guide for your team, and share it with

Are you better off private billing?
Are you better off private billing? | Health and Life Health and Life Insights Are you better off private billing? Why the government is tightening

The AoB compliance trap: why 99% is not enough, and why bulk billing will collapse within 12 months
The 1 July 2026 AoB changes may make bulk billing unworkable. Practical guide to the compliance cost, workflow trap, and strategic options for practices.

Bulk bill or bill privately? The AoB changes just made the choice for you.
The Government has given you 12 months of breathing room on Assignment of Benefit. Here is what changes for your practice, who is sorted permanently and who is not, and why the 12-month reprieve is a window to get your billing model and BBPIP position right, not a reason to wait.

No Captured Consent, No Bulk Bill From 1 July 2026
Four regulatory changes hit Australian medical practices on the same day. Most are not ready. David Dahm on the 1 July 2026 bulk-billing consent reforms and the structural test underneath every practice.

The Price of Your Practice: Why Bulk Billing, Tax Risk, and Regulatory Gaps Cost Everyone More
The Price of Your Practice: Why Bulk Billing, Tax Risk, and Regulatory Gaps Cost Everyone More | Health & Life Blog Skip to main content

Thank You to Our Clients, Staff and Readers: Here’s the 2026 GP and Healthcare Survival Guide You Helped Create
Dear valued clients, staff and friends, Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a joyful, prosperous 2026. Please note: Our office will be closed from 23

Patients Survive, Practices Die: How “Free” GP Visits Are Killing Choice and Driving Gaps Up
In a profession where many GPs have traditionally wanted to work independently and shape their own style of care, “Mars Bar Medicine” inflationary sugar‑hit measures

Doctors on the ATO’s Radar: Income Splitting Warning and Practical Steps to Protect Yourself
The ATO crackdown is real, and high-income professionals targeting doctors and allied health using trusts, companies, or partnerships to split income are squarely in focus.

When Patients Survive but Practices Die: The Unhealthy Business Model of Bulk Billing
When Patients Survive but Practices Die: The Unhealthy Business Model of Bulk Billing An unhealthy business model is one in which the patient survives but

Managed Care by Stealth Set Your Medical Fees the Right Way!
In the public’s interest, I write this article. I want to thank Lukasz Wyszynski from Hamilton Bailey Lawyers and Steven Polyichanin from Peak Commercial and

GP Clinics: Prevent Terminal Cash and Tax Fraud & Simplify Banking Reconciliation
GP Clinics: Prevent Terminal Cash and Tax Fraud & Simplify Banking Reconciliation Edited: Update 10 July 2026 The problem Given recent fraud events, where six

Sky-High Patient Fee Hike Notices Tied to Poor Legal and Tax Advice May Trigger an Audit
Sky-High Patient Fee Hike Notices Tied to Poor Legal and Tax Advice May Trigger an Audit Issuing collective fee notices, advertising group-wide “Australian General Practice

Invisible Clinics: The Missing Link in Australia’s Medical and Tax Regulation
Invisible Clinics: The Missing Link in Australia’s Medical and Tax Regulation I have always supported reducing red tape, but the current trend toward ‘corporate (transactional)

A Genuine Tenant DoctorTM Arrangement Attracts No Payroll Tax: No Requirement for Bulk Billing
A Genuine Tenant DoctorTM Arrangement Attracts No Payroll Tax: No Requirement for Bulk Billing This is a 2025 GP, Medical and Allied Health Payroll Tax

Uber Billion-Dollar Tech Giant Crumbles Under Payroll Tax Decision —Why Medical and Healthcare Still Have an Escape Route: 7 key takeaways and tips
Edited 4 August 2025 How you run your practice matters Even a billion-dollar tech company cannot beat the payroll tax; however, well-structured medical and healthcare

What Does a Genuine Tenant Doctor Model Look Like—Payroll Tax and Superannuation Guarantee-Free?
The business case for ensuring you are a genuine Tenant DoctorTM and not a deemed employee-like contractor “The absolute worst case that you could be in

Payroll and Income Contractor Liability: How You Publicly Identify Now Matters
LPayroll and Income Contractor Liability: Why Accurate Classification Is Crucial Edit 21 July 2025: We presented on this topic for the Royal Australian College of General

Safer and Effective Tax Strategies for Medical Practices: Recent Court Decisions Revisiting Service Trust Fees
Edit 21 July 2025: We presented on this topic for the Royal Australian College of General Practice: Practice Owners Conference. Click HERE to access a

Systematic Erosion of Access to High-Quality GP Care: Medicare Modeling Highlights $8.5 Billion in Concerns
As a national medical and healthcare chartered accountant following a serious work related car accident in 1989, I have dedicated myself to ethically advocating for

ATO’s Tax Rules Hurts Affordable Continuity of Care for Subcontractor Medical and Healthcare Practitioners
ATO’s Tax Rules Hurts Affordable Continuity of Care for Subcontractor Medical and Healthcare Practitioners Implications of the Draft Personal Services Income (PSI Rules) GST for

Changing a practitioner’s bank account is tax avoidance?!
Edit 21 July 2025: We presented on this topic for the Royal Australian College of General Practice: Practice Owners Conference. Click HERE to access a

Breaking: ATO’s New Rules on Employee vs. Contractor – What You Need to Know!
Edit 21 July 2025: We presented on this topic for the Royal Australian College of General Practice: Practice Owners Conference. Click HERE to access a

Paying payroll tax may do more harm than good
Edited” 21 July 2024 Paying payroll tax may seem like a straightforward compliance issue for medical practices, but it can have far-reaching and unintended consequences.

Health and Life’s Payroll and Income Tax Top Three Tips for medical and healthcare practitioners
Health and Life’s Payroll and Income Tax Top Three Tips for medical and healthcare practitioners Top Three Tips – Understand you are not a “practice,

Why did my “Medical Practice” that qualified for the Payroll Tax Amnesty just received a substantial payroll tax bill?!
In the last few months, Queensland (QLD) and South Australia (SA) Payroll Tax Assessment Letters were issued to “Medical Practices or “Contracted General Practitioners” organisations.

Tenant Doctors: Critical banking tips for protecting yourself from not getting paid correctly for weeks or months or at all!
Can you afford to live weeks, months without pay? What happens if my “Medical Centre” goes bankrupt and they take my money to pay for

Understanding the difference between a “Tenant Doctor” and an “Independent Contractor” for tax compliance is critical.
Edit 21 July 2025: We presented on this topic for the Royal Australian College of General Practice: Practice Owners Conference. Click HERE to access a unique

Payroll Tax: The Flow of Separate “Banking” Funds Myth Busted?!
Gp Medical & Healthcare Payroll Tax: The Flow Of Separate “Banking” Funds Myth Busted And More… Many practitioners, practices, and Medical Centres are overwhelmed with
