Concerns about potential cartel behaviour among Australian surgeons has been referred to the Australian Health Ministers' Advisory Council for further investigation.
In September, Fairfax Media revealed claims that overseas-trained surgeons were facing anti-competitive behaviour that reached into the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons - a powerful group that largely controls the supply of surgeons in Australia and, allegedly, the level of competition and fees they can charge.
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NSW Health Minister Jillian Skinner said after discussing the issue at the Council of Australian Governments' meeting of health ministers last month, concerns about unprofessional behaviour had been referred to the ministers' advisory council.
The council is made up of state and territory health department secretaries and chief executives, and it has a Victorian-based committee that works on workforce issues, including ideas for strategic reform.
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Fairfax Media understands all health ministers at the COAG meeting were worried about the potential for surgeons to be protecting their lucrative private markets.
Last year, a report commissioned by the college of surgeons said commercial gain and protection of market share was driving bad behaviour among surgeons, and that conflicts of interest were potentially compromising the assessment of overseas-trained doctors and preventing fair complaints management.
The college recently denied claims it was implicated in any anti-competitive behaviour, saying patient safety was its only consideration when deciding who practises surgery in Australia.
In September, two former chiefs of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said governments had been too fearful of powerful medical lobby groups in the past, and that they needed to investigate the college of surgeons for potentially restricting the supply of surgeons to Australia.
"Governments have been reluctant to take strong action because of a fear of the surgeons' lobby and because of some ill-advised concerns that the more surgeons, the more operations, and the more costs to government," said Professor Allan Fels, chairman of the ACCC during the 1990s.
Professor Graeme Samuel, head of the ACCC during the 2000s, said medical colleges were "closed shops", and that health ministers needed to open them up to more scrutiny to create a transparent competitive market for patients.