Forty years ago, in 1984, the Hawke Labor Government established Medicare. And Australians no longer had to miss out on healthcare because they simply couldn’t afford to pay. Forty years later we are putting mental health at the heart of Medicare, so that everyone can get the mental health care and support they need.
In my role I’ve visited communities across the country and heard from people seeking help, supporting family, and providing care. In each community I have seen the very real impact of distress and mental illness for individuals and families. And that for too long people have not been able to access support, that mental health care has been out of reach, and often those most in need have been left behind.
Which is why we have been working to reform the mental health system to make sure that everyone can get the care and support they need. We are taking action by introducing new mental health services, building new centres, and supporting the workforce to deliver quality care.
An important part of this reform is the introduction of a stepped model of care so that people can get the right mental health care to meet their needs.
That is why we are introducing a National Early Intervention Service.
We all experience periods of distress in our lives — when we lose a loved one, when a relationship breaks down, or when work is overwhelming. These are times when we all need extra support — which until now hasn’t always been available to everyone.
The National Early Intervention Service will be free offering professional mental health care so people don’t end up in crisis. It will provide the right type of care, and support more than 150,000 people to get the help they need every year.
We also recognise that children, young people and their parents should be able to access mental health and wellbeing support at every age. That is why we are setting up perinatal mental health centres, Kids Hubs, and expanding headspace centres across the country.
We have invested in Perinatal Mental Health Centres so expectant and new parents can receive free psychological support.
And the new Kids Hubs will support children aged from 0 – 12 and their families to seek mental health, wellbeing and developmental advice and support.
For young people aged 12 – 25, we are expanding the number of headspace centres to 173 across the country, so they can get age-appropriate support for mental health, physical health, sexual health, study and work.
I know the difference that headspace has made for young people across Australia. Like Lily, who is from the Central Coast of New South Wales and first visited headspace after feeling anxious and depressed. Lily told me that she “was afraid to ask for help” but after visiting headspace she said it “completely changed” her life and she told me “five years later I can I say I’m much healthier”. Lily’s experience shows just how important headspace is for young people. The new headspace centres we are opening across the country will mean more young people like Lily can get help and support.
Together, the Perinatal Mental Health Centres, Kids Hubs, and new headspace centres, will make sure that children, young people and their families can receive the mental health and wellbeing support they need at every stage of life.
While these services have provided a safe place for young people and families to seek help, there has not been similar support available for adults. And often nowhere to find immediate support close to home for so many in need.
Which is why we are setting up Medicare Mental Health Centres across the country.
Medicare Mental Health Centres provide a safe and welcoming place where people will be able to walk in and get free support. The Centres are supported by dedicated teams including social workers, nurses, peer workers, psychologists and psychiatrists.
They offer immediate support when someone is distressed. And short and medium-term care whenever needed. The Centres will importantly be part of that stepped model of care alongside the new National Early Intervention Service.
I’ve visited Medicare Mental Health Centres in cities and regional communities and heard from social workers, peer workers and psychologists. They have told me the difference the Centres, and their work, is already making to thousands of Australians.
Which is why we are building 61 Medicare Mental Health Centres with 31 already open across the country providing life-changing support to their local communities.
To deliver these reforms we are also supporting the health professionals and mental health workers who give so much to the people they care for every day.
We have recently announced increases in the number of postgraduate psychology places, internships and supervisors in every state and territory.
Before this announcement I heard from Nita, who grew up in the suburbs of Western Sydney hoping to one day be a psychologist. But Nita is one of the thousands of students who applied for a psychology course and was not admitted simply because of a limited number of places at universities. And I was frustrated — both for Nita and for anyone who had ever waited to see a psychologist — to know that students had been turned away.
That is why we are investing in 500 more postgraduate psychology places, 500 additional internships, and 2,000 more supervisors. And importantly half of the internships and supervisors will be for people in First Nations communities, culturally and linguistically diverse communities, and people living in regional, rural and remote towns in Australia. This will mean that people like Nita — who aspire to grow up and be a psychologist — will now have the opportunity.
I also know the invaluable role of peer workers and people with lived experience in the mental health workforce.
Leslie — who was the first peer worker I worked alongside nearly 20 years ago at the Wyong Mental Health Inpatient Unit — showed me that, often, the best care comes from someone who has lived through the same experience, walked in your shoes.
In Medicare Mental Health Centres and services across the country, peer workers are often on the front line providing immediate care to people in need.
That’s why we are supporting and recognising the peer workforce by establishing a peer worker association and peer worker census.
This support for the mental health workforce will increase the number of people studying, joining the workforce, and supporting people in places like Kids Hubs, headspaces and Medicare Mental Health Centres.
I want to acknowledge that these reforms would not be possible without the direct lived experience of so many individuals, families and supporters. And I am so personally grateful for the advice and contribution that so many people have made as we undertake this reform together.
This year we announced the establishment of two new national mental health lived experience peak bodies — one for consumers, and one for carers and kin. The peak bodies, which are world-leading, recognise the contribution of people with lived experience. And are a demonstration of our commitment to continue to work alongside people with lived experience as we deliver these reforms.
My hope is that our work to introduce the National Early Intervention Service; to set up perinatal mental health centres, Kids Hubs and new headspace centres; establish Medicare Mental Health Centres; and to build the workforce, will bring us closer to a country where everyone can get the mental health care and support they need.
Where mental health care is available to everyone and where those most in need are not left behind. Because that is what Labor governments do and that is exactly what the Albanese Labor Government’s mental health reforms will deliver.