SARAH CUMMING, HOST: I’m wondering if you’ve had to wait long for an appointment to see a GP on the Gold Coast? What about a councillor or a psychologist, perhaps? The Federal Government has announced this morning a new Medicare Mental Health Centre is to open here on the Gold Coast. Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, Emma McBride, joins me in the studio. Good morning to you, Minister.
ASSISTANT MINISTER EMMA MCBRIDE: Good to be with you, Sarah.
CUMMING: Apologies for the rain.
MCBRIDE: It’s still stunning here on the Gold Coast.
CUMMING: We’ll take that. Now tell us, how will this Medicare Mental Health Centre differ from the services already available to people living in the city?
MCBRIDE: What we’ve seen on the Gold Coast and across Queensland, and really right around the country, is that it was harder than it should be for people to be able to access support and care. So what these centres will be is walk in, so you don’t need an appointment. You also won’t need a referral, so you won’t need to wait to see a GP to get a mental health treatment plan. And you’ll be greeted by someone with their own lived experience, someone who’s walked in your shoes, and we know that that is the best start to someone seeking support and care.
CUMMING: Okay, so no referral, no appointment, it will be walk in. Will there be a cost?
MCBRIDE: It’s free – again, removing barriers to access mental health support and care to make sure that people can get support sooner so that their distress is eased and so they’re linked in with the right kind of coordinated care. They’re also multidisciplinary teams, so you’ll be able to see a social worker, you might see a councillor. And if you do need to see a psychologist or a psychiatrist, we’re also setting up a virtual network nationally so that if you walk into the centre in the Goldie or in Strathpine or in Caboolture, if you do need that more specialised mental health support and care, you'll be able to be linked into it – again, for free.
CUMMING: Okay, so when it- you say that the centre will be staffed by mental health clinicians. You said that'll be counsellors, social workers, but not actually psychologists or psychiatrists.
MCBRIDE: Psychologists too, and psychiatrists.
CUMMING: Okay.
MCBRIDE: So we've got now 42 Medicare Mental Health Centres open across the country. And as you mentioned, they're staffed by mental health clinicians, and I'm a mental health clinician myself, so there'll be social workers, counsellors, psychologists. But if on that day that you walk into the Goldie, there isn't a psychologist available or not one with a particular expertise that you need, then you'll be able to be linked into this virtual network. Either face-to-face or via telehealth, whichever centre you work into in the national network, you'll be able to get the support you need.
CUMMING: I understand there are already 13 of these centres in Queensland. The Gold Coast one won't open until next year, a location still yet to be decided. Is this enough to meet the demand here on the Gold Coast? We are a growing city, and we hear a lot about the waiting list to see mental health providers. Is this enough?
MCBRIDE: There is a lot of demand on the Gold Coast and in other parts of Australia. So we've also set up a 1800 number and also digital access. So right now, if someone on the Gold Coast needs this support, they can call 1800-595-212, or they can go to www.medicarementalhealth.gov.au as we strengthen and expand the network. The closest ones for your listeners here would probably either be in Logan or Ipswich at the moment, but we intend to open 23 in Queensland, 91 across the country. The interest is growing though, and we will be renegotiating the National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Agreement that they're funded under, and I expect further consideration will be given.
CUMMING: What locations is the Government considering for this centre on the Gold Coast?
MCBRIDE: When these centres are set up, it's really important that the community has a say in what is a co-design process. The Primary Health Network has commissioned Open Minds to deliver the new Gold Coast Medicare Mental Health Centre, and they'll work with the community, with service providers, with people seeking support, to make sure that the location is accessible and convenient, to make sure that as many people as possible will be able to access the service.
CUMMING: But it's more than likely going to be on the northern end of the Gold Coast?
MCBRIDE: Yes, the northern end of the Gold Coast.
CUMMING: Okay. You are hearing from Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, Emma McBride, here on ABC Gold Coast Mornings. The Minister joining me in the studio to make this announcement that a new Medicare Mental Health Centre to open on the Gold Coast next year. It will be free. You won't need a referral or an appointment. You can just walk in. So much demand for this type of service right around the country.
MCBRIDE: There is, and we've seen growing demand, more people in distress, and there's lots of different drivers of that distress – whether it's a relationship breakdown, early childhood trauma, work pressures. So what we also know is that the sooner people get support, the better recovery that they have and the chance to live thriving lives. The idea is to break down any barriers to access support and care to make them closer to home, free and walk in so more can get the support when they need it.
CUMMING: They don't need to be on a mental health care plan or have sought this type of support before?
MCBRIDE: No, and we know that. And I, as a pharmacist, worked in acute adult inpatient units where I saw people come in, brought in by ambulance or police, whose distress had escalated to crisis because they hadn't got the support sooner. So what we know is that where that support is available, close at a home and affordably, and when people can access it when they need it, that they're much more likely to be able to recover well and live thriving lives.
CUMMING: How much is this costing, and will the State Government be contributing towards it as well?
MCBRIDE: As I said, the Medicare Mental Health Centres are provided under the National Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Agreement. So for this particular centre, the Commonwealth is providing $1.79 million for the establishment, and the ongoing operational funding will be shared 50-50 between the Commonwealth and the Queensland Government
CUMMING: This is part of an expanding network, as you've mentioned, right around the country. Are there enough staff?
MCBRIDE: What we are also doing at the same time is investing in the pipeline of the workforce – investing in more training places for psychologists, investing in more Commonwealth-funded places for doctors, and also investing in the developing peer workforce. The peer workforce might be familiar to some of your listeners, but it's someone with their own direct personal experience and bringing that personal experience to be able to support others. And we've seen in the Medicare Mental Health Centres the blend in the workforce of both peer workers with their own lived experience and clinicians is the best wraparound care. Sometimes, you know, what someone needs is to be able to talk to somebody who just understands their situation, and also to see that someone who has walked in their shoes and is now doing well, and to know- so the blend of both clinicians and lived experience is what is really making these centres have an impact.
CUMMING: That is the Federal Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, Emma McBride, joining me in the studio on ABC Gold Coast, announcing a new Medicare Mental Health Centre will open the northern end of the Gold Coast next year. And later in the program you will hear the Minister announce more funding for headspace, which provides mental health services for young people here on the Gold Coast. And we also talk about the impending social media ban for under-16s.