More than 2.2 million Australians paid an “extreme” fee to see a specialist last year, with psychiatrists and paediatricians among the most likely to routinely unreasonably charge their patients, according to new research.

Specialists cannot justify exorbitant fees by blaming inadequate government rebates, or the costs of running a business, a report from policy thinktank the Grattan Institute found, as these factors explain only a fraction of the fee increases Australians have faced. While Medicare rebates fell in real terms by $9 per between 2012 and 2025, specialists increased patient fees by an average of $37 over the same period, recouping the lost subsidy more than four times over. The average specialist fee rose 4% on top of inflation in 2025.

In September, legislation passed allowing the government to publish the fees of all specialists on the Medical Costs Finder website, which will begin in 2027. The website has been voluntary for specialists to sign up to, with only about 100 out of 6,300 eligible specialists publicly disclosing their fees since it was established in 2019.

The lead author of the report, health economist Peter Breadon, said increased price transparency was important but would not be enough to fix what he described as a broken market failing to self-regulate. The report calls on federal and state governments to invest $500m each year to expand public hospital outpatient clinics; to roll out advice lines for GPs to quickly seek specialist advice so their patients can avoid a referral, wait time and fees; and to impose binding training quotas on medical colleges.

A man has been charged with murder after a delivery rider was stabbed to death while working.

On Friday night, HungryPanda delivery rider Feng Jianming, 47, and another rider confronted a man allegedly tampering with their bikes in Melbourne’s city centre. An altercation ensued and the man, a 51-year-old, is alleged to have stabbed both riders. Emergency services rushed to the scene on Frederick Way, but Feng could not be saved. The second rider, 34, was taken to hospital with serious injuries, where he remained on Monday.

Feng, originally from China’s Shaanxi Province, had been in Australia for about nine years. A GoFundMe fundraiser set up by the Melbourne Chinatown Business Association had raised almost $390,000 by Monday morning to help Feng’s family with emergency travel and funeral expenses. Food delivery company HungryPanda said it was assisting the family with visa arrangements, funeral expenses, financial support and insurance.

The 51-year-old suspect was arrested by police on Saturday and on Monday morning was charged with one count of murder and intentionally causing serious injury. He was remanded in custody to appear before Melbourne magistrates court on Monday.

An ABC News Breakfast investigation has unearthed multiple accusations the internationally-stocked brand BodyBlendz — which was once promoted by reality star Kim Kardashian on Instagram — has used imagery made for other brands without their consent.

One of its accusers, Sydney-based photographer Lucy Alcorn, believes the case demonstrates Australia needs stronger guardrails to protect creatives against a deluge of AI-generated content. She alleges several promotional images that appeared on BodyBlendz’s Instagram account had been copied from images she shot for another skincare brand, Luna Bronze, possibly using AI.

In a statement, Stil Suncare founder Tash Hagan said she was “genuinely mind-blown”, and particularly thrown by the fact BodyBlendz’s social media post appeared to include an AI-generated face with an uncanny resemblance to her own.

A UK sunscreen brand has also accused BodyBlendz of using images similar to its own, while an Australian reality TV star has claimed BodyBlendz used their picture without consent. Luna Bronze co-founder Maddy Balderson told ABC News Breakfast that a single shoot could cost the brand $30,000 to $50,000 — a large investment the small business had to carve out every year.

BodyBlendz has previously been accused of using an image of Married At First Sight participant Martha Kalifatidis without her consent in a stockist’s 2019 advertising brochure. University of Melbourne Associate Professor of Law Jason Bosland agreed with Alcorn the legal system would benefit from introducing small claims courts; while Luna Bronze co-founder Ms Balderson said she was also worried about the potential for AI-generated imagery to mislead beauty consumers.