Urgent call to reform mental health system that favours the rich

A pre-eminent healthcare economist has deemed the Better Access initiative to improve mental health services ‘extremely inequitable’.

Melbourne University professor and member of the Strengthening Medicare taskforce Stephen Duckett says the former Coalition government’s Better Access initiative to expand the number of subsidised psychologist sessions from 10 to 20 favoured wealthy Australians. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

A pre-eminent healthcare economist has deemed the Better Access initiative to improve mental health services “extremely inequitable”, as the country’s peak psychological body calls on the government to pour more investment into mental health care.

Melbourne University professor and member of the Strengthening Medicare taskforce Stephen Duckett said the former Coalition government’s Better Access initiative to expand the number of subsidised psychologist sessions from 10 to 20 favoured wealthy Australians, and didn’t improve access to mental health services.

“The Coalition’s decision to expand services from 10 to 20 was inequitable, and its benefits mostly flowed to wealthier suburbs that didn’t actually improve access,” Mr Duckett said.

“(We saw) the same number of psychologists, and if you increase the number of services that one individual gets that means there’s no additional benefits.”

Mr Duckett claimed psychologists upped their costs when the additional subsidised services were introduced, and in some instances earned more than GPs.

Last year, the federal government released an independent review which found the Better Access Program had aggravated waitlists and not helped those in rural and low socio-economic areas access services.

But the Australian Psychologist Society claimed the program had “enabled millions of Australians to access quality psychological care” and called on govern­ment to give greater financial investment in mental health services in rural and low-socioeconomic areas to make mental health care more equitable.

“The cost of inaction is far too high. Mental ill-health and suicide are already costing our economy more than $200bn per year and we must bring this number down,” APS president Catriona Davis-McCabe said.

“Our pre-budget submission is vitally important. Australians need the government to take this issue head on. There is no health without mental health, and the risk of not funding mental health adequately will cost not just the economy, but the lives of Australians,” Dr Davis-McCabe said

The APS said the “catastro­phic” psychologist shortage was the reason preventing people in low socio-economic areas accessing care through Better Access.

It said it could be resolved if it weren’t for huge barriers preventing capable and eager students from attaining degrees and filling critical holes in the workforce.

Postgraduate psychology training is funded at a lower band compared to other health professions, with the federal government paying $13,369 per student. The APS called for psychology training funding to be equal to general practice, medical studies, agriculture and veterinary science training, at $27,243 per student.

The APS also requested the government introduce bulk billing for rural psychologists.