What Does a Gastroscopy or Colonoscopy Cost in Australia? A Plain-English Guide
In Australia you can have a gastroscopy or colonoscopy two ways: public (free, but you wait) or private (you pay something, but it happens within weeks). This guide explains what you actually pay, what Medicare and your health fund cover, and the questions to ask before you book.
Most people find the private system confusing because there isn't one bill. There are up to four separate fees, and each one can be "covered", "gap" or "no gap". Once you understand those four fees, the rest is easy.
Option 1: Public hospital — free, but you wait
A public hospital scope costs you nothing. Medicare covers the lot: the hospital, the gastroenterologist, the anaesthetist and the pathology.
The quality is excellent. Public hospitals have expert gastroenterologists and well-equipped endoscopy units. Cost is not the problem.
The problem is the wait. Your GP sends a referral, the hospital triages it into a category, and you go on a list. How long you wait depends on your category, how busy that hospital is, and the admissions office — not on you or your GP. Urgent cases (such as bleeding or suspected cancer) are seen quickly; routine cases can wait many months.
Public suits you if: your problem isn't urgent, money is tight, and you can live with an unknown wait. You can ring the hospital's endoscopy booking office to ask where you sit on the list, but you can't jump the queue.
Option 2: Private — the four fees
A private scope is usually done within 2–4 weeks at a private hospital or day surgery. You will get up to four separate bills, from four separate people.
Fee | Who bills you | What it covers | Who pays it |
1. Facility (hospital) fee | The hospital or day surgery | The room, nurses, equipment, recovery bay | Your health fund (if insured) or you (if not). Medicare pays nothing toward this. |
2. Gastroenterologist's fee | The doctor doing the scope | The procedure itself | Medicare pays part, your fund may pay part, you may pay a gap |
3. Anaesthetist's fee | The anaesthetist (a separate doctor) | Your sedation | Same as above: Medicare + fund + possible gap |
4. Pathology fee | The pathology lab | Examining any biopsies or polyps | Usually bulk billed if the lab has an agreement with the hospital. Ask. |
Three words you need to know:
Schedule fee — the price the government sets for each procedure. In hospital, Medicare pays 75% of it, and your health fund pays the other 25%. If you have no fund, you pay that 25% yourself.
No gap — the doctor accepts what Medicare and your fund pay together. You pay nothing to that doctor.
Gap — the doctor charges more than the schedule fee. The difference is yours to pay. Some funds have "known gap" deals that cap this at a fixed amount (often $500 or less); above that, it's "no agreement" and you pay the whole difference.
Every doctor sets their own fee, so one gastroenterologist can be no-gap and the anaesthetist down the hall can charge a gap. You have to ask each one.
The item numbers
Every Medicare procedure has an item number. Your quote will show one or more of these. Here are the three you'll see most.
Item | What it is | Schedule fee | Medicare pays in hospital (75%) |
30473 | Gastroscopy (camera down the throat), with or without biopsies | $184.30 | $138.25 |
32222 | Colonoscopy for symptoms, anaemia, abnormal imaging, IBD or post-surgery check | $347.90 | $260.95 |
32229 | Removal of one or more polyps during colonoscopy (added on top of the colonoscopy item) | $280.60 | $210.45 |
Fees are as at 1 July 2026 and are indexed every July. You can look up any item number at MBS Online.
How to read this: if your gastroenterologist charges $347.90 for a colonoscopy, Medicare pays $260.95, your fund pays the remaining $86.95, and you pay nothing. If they charge $700, Medicare and your fund still pay $347.90 between them, and the $352.10 left over is your gap.
Action plan: going private
Ask these five questions before you book. Get the answers in writing (a quote with item numbers).
To the gastroenterologist's rooms: "Do you bulk bill the procedure, charge no gap, or charge a gap? If there's a gap, how much?"
To the rooms: "Which anaesthetist will I have, and do they charge a gap?" (The rooms usually know, or can give you the anaesthetist's number.)
To the hospital or day surgery: "What is the facility fee for a gastroscopy / colonoscopy, and is my fund contracted with you?"
To your health fund: "Is gastrointestinal endoscopy included on my policy, have I served the waiting period, and what is my excess?"
To the rooms: "Is pathology bulk billed if you take biopsies?"
Scenario A: No health insurance
You pay the facility fee in full. Medicare pays nothing toward it. Expect roughly $1,000–2,500 depending on the hospital, the procedure, and whether polyps are removed. Day surgeries are usually cheaper than full private hospitals.
The gastroenterologist either bulk bills (you pay nothing), or charges a fee. If they charge, Medicare still refunds you 75% of the schedule fee — $260.95 for a colonoscopy (item 32222), $138.25 for a gastroscopy (item 30473). You pay the rest.
The anaesthetist works the same way: Medicare refunds 75% of their schedule fee, and you pay anything above that.
Example: colonoscopy at a day surgery. Facility $1,400 + gastroenterologist $500 + anaesthetist $450 = $2,350 up front. Medicare refunds $260.95 + the anaesthetist's 75%. Your net cost is likely $1,750–1,950. Ask for all three numbers and add them up yourself.
Scenario B: Private health insurance with hospital cover
The facility fee is covered by your fund, minus your excess (commonly $250–750). Check your policy actually includes "gastrointestinal endoscopy"; Basic and some Bronze policies don't.
The only open question is whether the gastroenterologist and anaesthetist charge a gap. Many don't. If they do, your fund's gap-cover scheme may cap it. Ask.
Best case: no-gap doctors + covered facility = you pay only your excess. Worst case: two doctors charging gaps = excess + two gaps, which could be several hundred dollars each.
How Shore Gastroenterology bills
If you have no insurance, we bulk bill the procedure and we have arranged for pathology to be done at no extra cost. The only thing you pay is the facility fee.
If you have hospital cover, we are a strictly no-gap practice. You pay your excess and nothing to us.
The bottom line
Public: free, excellent, but you can't control the wait.
Private, insured: usually just your excess, plus any doctor gaps. Ask about gaps before you book.
Private, uninsured: the facility fee is the big one and it's all yours. Medicare gives back 75% of the schedule fee for each doctor, nothing for the hospital.
Always: get a written quote with item numbers from every party before the day.
The Australian Government's Medical Costs Finder shows typical fees and out-of-pocket costs by procedure and postcode, and is worth five minutes of your time.
This guide is general information about how billing works in Australia, not a quote. Fees vary by doctor, hospital and health fund, and MBS fees change each July. Always confirm costs with your own providers.
Source: MBS Online — item fees as at 1 July 2026.
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