Shadow Assistant Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence and Federal Member for Cowper, Pat Conaghan, has called out a bizarre oversight in the Albanese Government’s recent Strengthening Medicare Taskforce and subsequent report. Not one mental health care professional was included in the Taskforce and the Report sees the exclusion of mental health as a consideration in its findings.

“As the Shadow Assistant Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence, I find this critical omission to be at best incompetent and at worst potentially life threatening.

“I have met with dozens of organisations not only from within my electorate but also more broadly across Australia who currently provide services and support for the Victims of Family and Domestic Violence and their perpetrators. Almost all of whom suffer from varying degrees of poor mental health,” Mr Conaghan said.

“One particularly vivid analogy that I was presented with early on, and that subsequently resonated with many of these providers, was the feeling of being the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff.

“A lot of funding and effort in this arena is back end loaded, and without adequate focus and effective resourcing for mental health services, we hinder the likelihood of prevention and early intervention.

“We will perpetually be the ambulance at the bottom of that cliff, spending infinite time and resources on the rather clean up rather than providing the fence to protect potential victims.”

Reports have shown that 70% of GPs list mental health as one of the top three issues in patients. Many GPs and Psychologists across the country have articulated that Australia is facing a mental health crisis, and that support and consideration needs to be given more weight, not less.

Concerningly, the Albanese Government cut the Medicare funded mental health sessions in half from January 1 this year, in addition to not including mental health in the Strengthening Medicare report.

Coffs Harbour Clinical Psychologist, Jennifer Grant echoes the sentiments of her colleagues.

“I am absolutely bewildered that a ‘Strengthening Medicare’ report is actually a ‘Strengthening Primary Care’ report. GPs at the frontline are critical for identifying patients who could benefit from mental health care. But then what? There is no capacity in private practice and no capacity in community mental health to help anyone other than those with a mild-moderate anxiety or depressive disorder.”

The cut from 20 Medicare subsidised sessions annually to 10 means Jennifer cannot ethically begin to see a client with more serious disorders like Bipolar, Hoarding, Personality Disorders or those with comorbid persistent pain or children with suspected neurodevelopmental disorders.

“The difference in outcomes between 10 and 20 sessions is huge. It can mean being able to return to work or look after your children or participate in your community. It can mean staying out of hospital. In some cases, it means choosing life over death by suicide.

“Just as people shouldn’t be asked to ration vital medicines like insulin, they shouldn’t have to ration mental health care,” Ms Grant said.

“We need an urgent rethink of how Medicare can support people – especially in regional areas – to access affordable, skilled and timely mental health care. The ‘Strengthening Medicare’ report offers nothing.”