Budget 2022: Dismay at psychology sessions cut

Peak mental health bodies say rising numbers of struggling ­patients will be unable to access services, with Medicare funding of psychology sessions due to be cut by half.

Royal Australian College of GPs president Karen Price.

Peak mental health bodies say rising numbers of struggling ­patients will be unable to access services, with Medicare funding of psychology sessions due to be cut by half and general practice mental health services left critically underfunded.

After several years of very large investments in mental health by the Coalition government, Labor has not budgeted to continue to fund 20 sessions a year with a psychologist on Medicare, a measure in place since 2020.

Patients already pay significant gap fees for psychology consultations, with the Medicare rebate having not risen in years.

Doctors say the measure is more important than ever as thousands struggle with poor mental health triggered by the stresses of the pandemic. More than 2.1 million Australians have accessed the 20-session funding measure this year alone.

The Australian Association of Psychologists said 20 visits a year had made an enormous difference to those patients, with many requiring frequent sessions but unable to afford to pay privately.

“Given the devastating impact of Covid-19, multiple natural disasters, increasing levels of mental ill-health and unprecedented demand, we are dismayed about the lack of investment in mental health care,” the organisation said.

“We were told: ‘By protecting and strengthening Medicare, we ensure no one is left behind.’

“The fact is, mental health care has well and truly been left on the side of the road. We can only assume the Labor government will be making more announcements soon.”

The federal Health Department is reviewing the Medicare funding of psychology, but many in the sector assume since it was left out of the budget, it is just one of many pandemic measures the government has decided to wind back. The initiative is funded only to the end of this year.

The Royal Australian College of GPs’ plea for more support for general practice to manage the rising tide of presentations also went unheeded.

“It’s disappointing that there was no investment in general practice mental health services. GPs provide the majority of mental health services in Australia, and mental health is the most common presentation in general practice,” RACGP president Karen Price said.

Psychiatrists welcomed the budget’s reinstatement of funding for telehealth consultations for rural-based psychiatry pat­ients, as well as three new headspace youth mental health services.

Royal Australia and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists president Vinay Lakra said much more needed to be done.

Suicide Prevention Australia chief executive Nieves Murray, said the sector welcomed Labor’s move to put wellbeing at the centre of the budget.