A year after the government halved psychology subsides, Australians are delaying or foregoing treatment

ABC NEWS (Australia)

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.

Transcript

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]

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