A re-elected Albanese Labor Government will make a billion-dollar investment to roll out even more places Australians can go for free, public mental health care backed by Medicare.
The $1 billion commitment continues the Albanese Labor Government\u2019s work to fill the gaps in support with new free mental health services that are better matched to the needs of each Australian.
This election commitment includes an ongoing and sustained uplift in mental health funding.
The $1 billion mental health commitment includes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new network of 20 Youth Specialist Care Centres will close another critical service gap in our mental health system, ensuring young people in what mental health experts call \u201cthe missing middle\u201d, get the specialist help they need.
Filling \u201cthe missing middle\u201d service gap means young people with complex mental health needs, like personality disorders, eating disorders and early psychosis, can get the ongoing and intensive care they need, outside of hospital.
As we expand the range of free services backed by Medicare, the Medicare Mental Health phone line (1800 595 212) and website (medicarementalhealth.gov.au) will help Australians find the free service that is right for them.
This package builds on the Albanese Labor Government\u2019s existing work to roll out free mental health care:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Providing more free, public mental health services for Australians with different levels of need will help to relieve pressure on the subsidised services provided by private psychologists. A re-elected Albanese Labor Government will make a billion-dollar investment to roll out even more places Australians can go for free, public mental health care backed by Medicare. The $1 billion commitment continues the Albanese Labor Government\u2019s work to fill the gaps in support with new free mental health services that are better matched to the … Continue reading “Strengthening Medicare: Labor to deliver $1 billion for more free mental health services\ufffc\ufffc\ufffc”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aussie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32269"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32269\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32270,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32269\/revisions\/32270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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It will take pressure off the Better Access program, support psychologists to work to their full scope of practice and spend more time treating people with moderate and high needs.
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This is in stark contrast to Peter Dutton\u2019s plan to increase demand for private psychologists\u2019 services, which will drive up gap fees and make wait lists longer.
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Consistent with past practice, election commitments will be delivered in line with Commonwealth Grants Rules and Principles.
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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese:<\/strong>
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\u201cI want everyone, and especially young people, to be able to access the mental health care they need.
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\u201cWe will deliver $1 billion to roll out more services and locations Australians can go for free, public mental health care backed by Medicare.
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\u201cWhether you need short-term support or ongoing care, young or old, we will ensure that a free, mental health service backed by Medicare will be there for you and your family.
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\u201cOnly Labor has a plan to strengthen Medicare.\u201d
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Health Minister Mark Butler:<\/strong>
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\u201cPeter Dutton isn\u2019t ready for government or the hard work of policy development or reform, and nowhere is this clearer than in mental health.
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\u201cPeter Dutton is promising to repeat the mistakes of the past, by piling more demand on private psychologists, driving up gap fees and making waitlists longer.
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\u201cYou can\u2019t double the number of sessions without doubling the number of psychologists, or you create a bottleneck that means tens of thousands of Australians get no help at all.\u201d
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Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Emma McBride:<\/strong>
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\u201cLabor introduced Medicare, and we are making sure mental health care and free services are at the heart of communities.
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\u201cAll Australians deserve access to quality care, close to home. That\u2019s why we’re expanding the network of free services right across the country, including in regional and remote Australia, better matched to people’s needs.
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\u201cAs a former mental health worker, I am determined to make sure that all Australians receive the care they need and deserve.\u201d
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Carolyn Nikoloski, CEO, Mental Health Australia:<\/strong>
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\u201cThis is a landmark investment that recognises the challenges the community is facing.
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\u201cMental Health Australia welcomes this comprehensive package, that will fundamentally increase access to free mental health support across the country.
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\u201cIt also responds to some of the real pressures the sector is facing, by growing the pipeline of the mental health workforce, so that we can better respond to the community\u2019s mental health needs, both now and into the future.\u201d
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Professor Patrick McGorry, Orygen:<\/strong>
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“Australians will be relieved and grateful that a re-elected Albanese Government will respond decisively to the youth mental health crisis by strengthening headspace, building a network of strong specialised youth mental health centres to support all primary care providers, and expanding a diverse and skilled mental health workforce.
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\u201cAll Australians, especially young people and their very worried parents, will deeply appreciate this ground-breaking commitment to build the next stage of our world leading system of youth mental health care and to respond to the dramatic increase in prevalence that is causing widespread suffering and undermining our society.”
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Jason Trethowan CEO, headspace<\/strong>
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“The commitments respond to the increasing and innovative ways for headspace to provide support to more young people when experiencing a difficult time especially when it comes to their mental health challenges”.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"