A year after the government halved psychology subsides, Australians are delaying or foregoing treatment
It has been a year since the federal government cut a program providing subsides psychology sessions in half from 20 to 10. The change has forced some Australians to make difficult decisions in order to afford crucial mental health care.
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00:00 In the middle of a cost of living crisis, Kate Mason says she had no choice but to pack
00:06 up her house and find a cheaper rental to afford the growing cost of her son's therapy.
00:12 It comes after the federal government cut the number of subsidised psychology sessions
00:17 from 20 to 10.
00:19 There's been so many little things that have had to change to make sure he could be treated.
00:26 The added expense meant his weekly sessions had to become fortnightly, prolonging his
00:31 recovery.
00:32 If your child had a broken leg, it would be covered by Medicare.
00:36 If your child's assaulted and has PTSD, you don't have that money.
00:43 Medicare doesn't even come close to treating them.
00:47 The cuts came into effect on January 1st last year.
00:50 They were made against the advice of an independent report handed to the government.
00:55 It found while the sessions disproportionately favour people on relatively high incomes in
00:59 major cities, the additional 10 sessions should continue to be made available and should be
01:05 targeted towards those with complex mental health needs.
01:09 The government said the decision would allow more new clients to access the scheme, and
01:13 data shows more than 43,000 have.
01:17 But many say it's come at a cost.
01:19 I feel like there's been a big impact on our clients.
01:23 So we've seen that our clients aren't able really to have their full treatment.
01:29 It impacted 240,000 Australians who are currently accessing the additional 10 sessions.
01:35 Labor backbencher Josh Burns says he remains concerned about those who need more involved
01:40 treatment.
01:41 For people to be forced to pay hundreds of dollars to access mental health care, well
01:45 that can be a barrier, and that will mean that people are choosing not to access mental
01:49 health care.
01:50 In so many cases, like my son, he was too sick for headspace, but he wasn't sick enough
01:55 to be put in hospital.
01:56 The Albanese government promised major reform to the mental health system to make it more
02:00 accessible.
02:02 After a year of consulting, more money has been announced for crisis services like Lifeline
02:07 and Beyond Blue.
02:08 But it's still not clear what support will be offered for those that need longer term
02:12 care.
02:12 [BLANK_AUDIO]