1 week Ago By Josh Martin
A billion dollars will bolster Australia’s mental health services, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced on Tuesday. The mental health commitments are part of the Labor government’s plan to strengthen Medicare, a key component of the party’s re- election campaign. Albanese said he wants “everyone, and especially young people, to be able to access the mental health care they need”.
Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today “We will deliver $1 billion to roll out more services and locations Australians can go to for free, public mental health care backed by 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.” Health Minister Mark Butler has used the announcement to criticise the Coalition.
“Peter Dutton isn’t ready for government or the hard work of policy development or reform, and nowhere is this clearer than in mental health,” Butler said. The new mental health policy includes $225 million for 31 new and upgraded Medicare mental health centres, and more than $200 million for 58 new, upgraded or expanded headspace services. It also includes $500 million for 20 youth specialist care centres for young people with complex needs, and $90 million for more than 1200 training places for mental health professionals and peer workers.
‘Promising to repeat mistakes’ Shadow Health Minister Anne Ruston criticised the Labor government’s previous slashing subsidised mental health consultations from 20 to 10 for young people. “It would be totally unacceptable to cut a treatment plan in half for any other cohort of patients, so why should it be acceptable when it comes to mental health support?” she said in February. “This prime minister does not understand mental health.
” She has now revealed that a Dutton Coalition government, if elected, will restore full access to Medicare-subsidised mental health support on a permanent basis. The Coalition has made a commitment to invest an additional $400 million to deliver a world-leading focus on youth mental health, including upgrades of Headspace youth mental health services, and extra consults for young people. But Butler said “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.
” “You can’t 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,” Butler said..
