The short answer: Eligible privately practising midwives can access Medicare and the PBS through the provider number scheme, most midwifery care is GST-free, and the two biggest bookkeeping considerations are professional indemnity insurance (there is a Commonwealth-supported scheme for eligible midwives, though intrapartum home-birth cover is still limited) and cleanly separating Medicare, private client fees and any collaborative-arrangement or hospital income.
Key takeaways
- Eligible midwives have been able to access Medicare since November 2010 through a collaborative arrangement and a provider number.
- Midwifery care is a GST-free health service, so most private midwives are not registered for GST.
- Professional indemnity insurance is significant, partly Commonwealth-supported, and is a deductible practice cost that should be tracked clearly.
- Income can come from Medicare, private fees and hospital or contract work, and each needs to be separated for a clean BAS-free set of books.
On this page
Medicare for eligible midwives
Since November 2010, an eligible midwife who holds a Medicare provider number and works under a collaborative arrangement with a medical practitioner can provide Medicare-rebated antenatal and postnatal care and order relevant tests. This is what makes private midwifery a viable practice rather than purely a private-fee service. In the Geelong and Bellarine region, that usually means a mix of Medicare-rebated visits and privately billed care wrapped around them.
Is midwifery GST-free?
Yes. Midwifery is a recognised health service and is GST-free under the ATO's GST rules, so most private midwives never register for GST. As always, watch the edges: education sessions sold to a third party, product sales, or non-clinical consulting can be taxable, and enough of it would change your GST position.
Professional indemnity insurance
Professional indemnity insurance (PII) is one of the largest fixed costs in private midwifery, and it works differently here than in other allied health. Registration standards require appropriate PII, and the Commonwealth supports a PII scheme for eligible privately practising midwives for most care, although cover for planned home births during labour and birth remains a known limitation. Whatever your arrangement, the premium is a deductible business expense and should sit as its own line so you can see it clearly.
| Cost item | GST | How to record |
|---|---|---|
| Professional indemnity insurance | Check the invoice | Its own expense account, deductible |
| AHPRA registration and CPD | Usually GST-free/N-T | Professional costs account |
| Equipment (dopplers, scales) | Taxable purchase | Asset or expense per cost and threshold |
| Vehicle and travel to clients | Mixed | Logbook or cents-per-km method |
Separating your income
The clean-books test for a private midwife is whether Medicare, private fees and any hospital or contract work sit in separate income accounts. Medicare benefits arrive on their own remittance schedule; private care fees arrive by card or transfer; hospital visiting or contract work is invoiced. Record the care once and reconcile each funder against how it actually pays, and your year-end is a short conversation rather than an archaeology dig.
| Income type | GST | Reconcile against |
|---|---|---|
| Medicare-rebated visits | GST-free | The Medicare remittance, not the visit date |
| Private client fees | GST-free | Bank feed / card settlement |
| Hospital or contract work | GST-free service | Your issued invoice and its payment |
| Education / non-clinical | May be taxable | Separate account, watch the threshold |
Super, structure and payday super
Most private midwives operate as sole traders, which means no employer super for yourself, but personal super contributions can be a valuable, deductible way to save for retirement. If you employ an assistant or a second midwife, you become an employer: PAYG, the relevant award on the Fair Work site, and from 1 July 2026 super paid every payday under the 12 per cent super guarantee. A quick chat with a bookkeeper before you hire saves an expensive fix later.
Sole trader, company or partnership
Most private midwives begin as sole traders, and for good reason: it is simple to set up, cheap to run, and the income is taxed in your own name at your marginal rate. The trade-offs are that there is no separation between you and the business for liability, and every dollar of profit is taxed personally in the year you earn it. As a practice grows, some midwives look at a company structure for asset protection and more control over how income is timed, though a company adds cost, an annual return and more admin. A partnership can suit two midwives practising together, but partners are jointly responsible for the partnership's obligations, so a clear agreement matters. There is no single right answer, and the best structure depends on your income level, your risk, and whether you plan to employ. The important thing is to make the choice deliberately with advice, rather than drifting into whichever setup you happened to start with.
Deductions midwives miss
Private midwives carry a specific set of costs, and the ones most often missed at tax time are the recurring professional ones. Professional indemnity insurance is the obvious big one, but AHPRA registration, continuing professional development, professional association memberships, and clinical equipment such as dopplers, scales and blood-pressure monitors are all deductible. If you see clients in their homes, the travel between them is generally deductible using a logbook or the cents-per-kilometre method, and a genuine home office used for notes and admin has its own claimable running costs. The pattern that catches midwives out is a year of small cash or card expenses with no receipts kept, which quietly inflates the tax bill. A simple habit of photographing every receipt into your accounting app and keeping a logbook turns a stressful June into a short review, and makes sure you are not paying tax on money you actually spent running the practice.
Good records also make the Medicare and private sides of your income easy to prove if you are ever reviewed, which matters more in a Medicare-billing practice than in a purely private one. Keeping your bank feed reconciled monthly, your insurance and registration documents filed, and your logbook current means a request from the ATO or a query about a Medicare claim is a short, calm exercise rather than a weekend of reconstruction. In a small practice run largely by one person, that peace of mind is worth as much as the deductions themselves.
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Book a Free 20-Minute CallThe bottom line
Private midwifery in Geelong sits on three things done well: using the Medicare provider scheme and collaborative arrangement properly, keeping midwifery care GST-free while watching the taxable edges, and treating professional indemnity insurance as the major, deductible cost it is. Separate your income by funder, track your big costs on their own lines, and get your structure and any employment set up right before you scale. The clinical care is yours; the books just need to keep up.