Albanese raises stakes on mental health with $1b pledge as Dutton fuels cost-of-living policy

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will inject a further $1 billion for mental health into Labor’s re-election campaign as he seeks to keep Medicare at the front of voters’ minds to gain a political advantage over Peter Dutton.

The new funding will be directed into Medicare mental health centres, headspace clinics and youth specialist care centres, which will offer Australians free access to psychologists or psychiatrists, while giving Labor a new angle to campaign on as it fights the election over healthcare.

Anthony Albanese speaks with a family in Melbourne on Monday as he sought to capitalise on the Coalition’s work from home blunder.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Mental health has been a weakness for the Albanese government, which has come under sustained criticism for slow action from the sector after Health Minister Mark Butler cut the number of Medicare-subsidised psychology sessions from 20 to 10 a year.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is campaigning on his $500 million pledge to restore the 20 subsidised sessions as he defends the Coalition against Labor’s renewed “Mediscare” attacks.

The Coalition is also promoting a $400 million youth mental health package, which has not been fully detailed but similarly involves boosting funding to headspace, a non-profit organisation specialising in serving youth.

Albanese’s announcement will give him a $1 billion rebuttal to Dutton’s mental health policy ahead of a leaders’ debate in western Sydney on Tuesday evening, when both leaders want to convince voters they are taking the strongest action on the cost of living.

Dutton on Monday upped the imagery on his 25¢ petrol discount – the Coalition’s signature cost-of-living policy – when he arrived at a bowser in a fuel tanker. The opposition is seeking to move on from its first major error of the campaign after dumping its unpopular edict on public servants working from home.

Peter Dutton on Monday sought to recover from his major policy about-face on working-from-home arrangements.Credit: James Brickwood

Dutton conceded he made a mistake as he faced heat about the party’s standing among Australian women. “We got it wrong and we have apologised for it. We support flexible workplace arrangements,” he said.

“As I’ve said before, we will make sure that we can help families and that’s exactly what our positive plan is.”

The prime minister spent Monday in suburban Melbourne, where the unpopular Allan government is rubbing off on federal Labor’s brand. Albanese stood with Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan before visiting a family that works from home to seize a political advantage from Dutton’s backdown.

“Peter Dutton has said that they’ll end that flexibility. He now wants to pretend that that policy hasn’t existed,” Albanese said.

After a fumbled announcement over the Port of Darwin, the prime minister will seek to move focus back to Labor’s preferred turf on Tuesday, when he announces its latest investment in Medicare.

“Whether 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,” Albanese said in a statement.

Funding will go to 20 new youth specialist care centres that serve young people with complex needs ($500 million), 31 new or upgraded Medicare mental health centres ($225 million), 58 new or upgraded headspace services ($200 million) and 1200 training places for mental health professionals ($90 million).

It adds to the government’s budget announcement last year, worth $888 million over eight years, which promised an early intervention phone line and 61 Medicare mental health centres to be operating from 2026.

But that was viewed as a paltry investment by the mental health sector, and advocates have criticised the health minister for taking too long to act while people with complex needs fell through the system’s gaps.

Butler has defended his response, maintaining he was working on thoughtful change to fix the “missing middle” rather than throwing more money into the system.

The key differences between the Coalition and Labor mental health policies are around access and cost.

The opposition’s move to increase how many psychology sessions are subsidised by Medicare reinstates the former Morrison government’s COVID-19-era policy.

This applies to all Australians, but people still need to pay gap fees to make up the difference, meaning the benefit skews towards those who can already afford to see a professional.

The government, on the other hand, is promising free visits to psychiatrists or psychologists at its expanded list of clinics. However, whether people can access them will be determined by location and demand.

Butler will pitch his policy as superior, given a review said the 20 psychologist sessions were mainly being used by wealthier Australians. “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,” Butler said.

The Coalition will counter this by pointing to Labor’s record. “Last year, a quarter of young Australians delayed or avoided seeking professional support for their mental health needs because they just could not afford it,” health spokeswoman Anne Ruston said last week.

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