Co-pays triple wait time in SA emergency

The average waiting time could more than triple in South Australia's emergency departments if the commonwealth introduces GP co-payments, the state's health minister says.

Minister Jack Snelling on Thursday said the plan to charge $6 for a visit to a GP would see more people avoid having to pay the fee and instead go straight to an emergency department.

"Based on modelling of just four per cent of people heading to a hospital because it was free, that would take the average a South Australian is waiting in an Emergency Department (ED) from 20 minutes to 66 minutes," he said.

"An extra 360,000 people coming into our EDs would also come at a cost of an extra $80 million to the state budget."

He made the comments during Labor's campaign for the SA election on March 15, saying it was time Opposition leader Steven Marshall stood up to Tony Abbott and campaigned against the move.

Labor would never introduce a fee for people to visit EDs, he added.