“What that says,is the task that governments know needs to happen is only more urgent. At a time this is really biting for people,mental health support isn’t affordable,available or easy to find,” she said.
“How that plays out for people is they feel great shame about not being able to pay bills,quite often hide stuff from family,bunker down and internalise the worry. We know the earlier you get help and share a problem with someone,your mental load is lightened.”
Medicare-funded mental health services are spread unevenly and many are missing out,according to the government’s own analysis. Almost 70 per cent of people who receive psychology treatments through Medicare are paying out-of-pocket and the median gap fee is $90.
People are also waiting longer to access treatment with the median wait time between a person receiving a mental health plan and attending their first session increasing from 18 days in 2018 to 22 days in 2021.
Data published by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare on Tuesday showed $11.6 billion was spent on mental health services in 2020-21 – about 7.3 per cent of the health budget – while 20 per cent of adults and one in seven young people experienced a mental health disorder.
Mental Health Australia chair Matt Berriman said system reform,workforce solutions and fairer allocation of government spending needed to be prioritised.