SONYA FELDHOFF, HOST: Yeah, always difficulties around mental health facilities. Never enough for the growing problem in our country and particularly here in our state. Emma McBride is the Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention. She's also the Assistant Minister for Rural and Regional Health and joins us in Adelaide this morning with some announcements on this front. Good morning, Minister.
ASSISTANT MINISTER EMMA MCBRIDE: Good to be with you.
FELDHOFF: You’re going to be revealing there are going to be two new services in our southern suburbs. What's the nature of those services?
MCBRIDE: For too long, people in the southern suburbs of Adelaide have had to wait too long and pay too much for mental health support and care, which is why we're changing that. Today, alongside Minister Rishworth, we’ll be announcing a new Medicare Mental Health Centre and a specialist perinatal service for people living in the southern suburbs of Adelaide.
FELDHOFF: What does that mean, a Medicare system? How will that work?
MCBRIDE: With the Medicare Mental Health Centre, it means that somebody can walk in without an appointment, without a referral, and receive free care, face to face, from a mental health professional or someone with their own lived experience, who brings their own personal experience to being able to access support and care in a way that is tailored for that individual and also available to their family.
JULES SCHILLER, HOST: So you're saying counsellors, psychologists? Will there be psychiatrists? I mean, what level of support will be provided?
MCBRIDE: These centres are apart of our $1.1 billion investment in mental health and wellbeing that we made at the last election, recognising the scale of the problem and the urgency to be able to respond. These services, and we've opened 56 of these Medicare Mental Health Centres, are staffed by a blend of clinicians, psychologists, social workers, counsellors, mental health nurses, occupational therapists in partnership with people with their own lived experience often called peer workers or peer navigators. And we found that that blend of clinical expertise and lived experience is really changing the way people can access support and care. And all of the centres will also be linked to a virtual network of psychiatrists. So if someone walks into a centre in Onkaparinga and they need to see a psychiatrist, that can also be organised for them and for free under Medicare.
RORY MCCLAREN, HOST: Is the goal here to potentially divert patients from going to, say, the Flinders Medical Centre and the emergency department there? Because as we've spoken about repeatedly here on this program, that is one of the great challenges that staff face in that particular emergency department. It is a high number of presentations when it comes to mental health.
MCBRIDE: And we've seen in other parts of the country, Townsville comes to mind, when the Medicare Mental Health Centre has been introduced and when people have been asked where would you otherwise have gone, about 20 to 25 per cent of people said they would have otherwise presented to an emergency department. And as a specialist mental health worker who's worked in acute inpatient units, we know that the best type of care is in the community and sooner, and that's what these Medicare Mental Health Centres are designed to provide.
FELDHOFF: So is it a gateway to further treatment, or is it just a one-off?
MCBRIDE: It's a new front door. So if someone walks in- and as I said, they don't need a referral. They don't need to make an appointment. They can walk in to get information and advice. They can also then have sessions with mental health professionals. And if they do need to be, they can be in a very warm way, without having to retell their story, be linked in with other services, which is why when these services are commissioned through the Primary Health Network, there's a co-design process looking at other services that are available to make sure that there's better integration and a much better continuity of care, which has always been a big challenge for people seeking support.
SCHILLER: I'm always interested, how anonymous is it? Because a lot of people are very reticent about admitting mental health problems. They're afraid it's going to end up on their employment record, or they might be- people might be put off by it. Is it anonymous, or do people have a right to not have it on their record?
MCBRIDE: It’s a confidential service. So somebody can choose to, if they wish- if they have a GP and they wish to share that information, they can. But it is a confidential service. Just recently, we launched the new National Stigma and Discrimination Report in Mental Health, and awareness has increased. Stigma has changed for people experiencing depression and anxiety, but stigma still does persist for more severe and complex mental health problems. So they'll be able to walk into a safe and welcoming place that is confidential.
FELDHOFF: You also mentioned a second place, a perinatal mental health centre. What is that exactly?
MCBRIDE: A perinatal mental health centre is a place for new or expectant parents to be able to get specialist support. We know that in Australia today, about one in five new or expectant mothers or one in 10 new or expectant fathers experience perinatal depression or anxiety. That's about 100,000 Australians. So we're investing close to $40 million to open 20 of these perinatal mental health services right around the country for that specialist support. Expecting a baby should be an exciting time, a big change in people's lives, but it can also come with birth trauma. It can come with depression. It can come with anxiety. And people shouldn't have to experience that alone, which is why we're partnering with Gidget Foundation Australia to open these services.
FELDHOFF: You're listening to 891 ABC Adelaide, Sonya, Jules and Rory, and our guest in the studio is the Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, Emma McBride. Now, obviously we know that there would be many people in the southern suburbs who will benefit from this, but equally in the eastern, the western and our northern suburbs. So how do you decide where the first ones are going to go?
MCBRIDE: I was with Matt Burnell in Elizabeth, where we opened a perinatal mental health service there. There will be one in Murray Bridge as well. In terms of how this is decided, the Commonwealth works very closely with the states and territories, with the Primary Health Network, to make sure that we're providing these services in locations where they're most needed. And we know, and I think it has been mentioned, that there is a high demand for mental health services in the southern suburbs of Adelaide, so I'm so pleased that we'll be able one in Onkaparinga in addition to the one that we've introduced in Elizabeth as well.
SCHILLER: We've been getting some texts from psychologists saying they haven't been worded up about this. Have you consulted with psychiatrists in Adelaide about these services and the fact that referrals could come to them from them?
MCBRIDE: That consultation process happens through the Primary Health Networks, and the Primary Health Networks through their co-design and mapping do engage with. So I'd encourage an individual psychologist or psychiatrist who hasn't been connected with to reach out to the Primary Health Network, because we need to make sure that when these services introduce, they're done in a very integrated way so that there is better continuity of care, because that has often been a challenge for people.
SCHILLER: There's a shortage of psychiatrists in Australia though, isn't there?
MCBRIDE: There is, which is why we're making sure that every one of these centres is linked to a virtual network of psychiatrists. The services typically have psychologists, social workers, counsellors. But you're right, there is a shortage of psychiatrists. And while we strengthen and grow that pipeline, we do have connections through virtual links to local centres.
MCCLAREN: Okay, how often will these be open? What sort of hours are we talking about? Are we talking 24/7, or are they going to be selected opening hours? And when will they actually open in Adelaide south?
MCBRIDE: So typically these services take about 12 months to become operational so that we can do that co-design process, that we can recruit the right expertise and have them in the right location. So up and running in about 12 months' time. They're all open extended hours. So the Medicare Mental Health Centres are open seven days a week, often evenings and over the weekend as well. As a mental health worker myself, I know how important that is, that services are open outside of the hours that normal clinical services might be available. And I would encourage listeners to look up Medicare Mental Health or to call 1800-595-212 to find the right service that suits them.
FELDHOFF: Now, you're also the Assistant Minister for Rural and Regional Health, and so I imagine you have a particular interest in those areas. We've had a text from someone who is neurodivergent living in the regions. You'd have to acknowledge that people in the regions don't have the kinds of services that we're talking about here and are unlikely to in the near future. What are you doing around that front?
MCBRIDE: So I'm sure in terms of the age of the listener. But having grown up in a regional community myself and run a department in a regional hospital, for too long it has been too hard for people in the regions to be able to access support. They've been expected to travel. They’ve been expected to pay. They've also been on the end of long wait lists. So what we're doing is in addition to the centres, we're launching a new digital mental health service for Australia, Medicare Mental Health Check In, available to all Australians over the age of 16, where they can get support from trained mental health professionals for free after calling 1800MEDICARE. So in addition to the services that we're opening, we're making sure that there is a strong network of digital services available.
SCHILLER: On regional health, because I know you've worked a lot in this area, I know the Albanese Government last week announced prac payments to a lot of occupational therapies like podiatrists and clinical psychologists. Medical students weren't included in that and we know, and you would know, I'm guessing first hand, that the regions have an incredibly hard job attracting GPs. Do you think it was an error not having prac payments for medical students to go out and do placements in regional Australia as the AMA has pointed out?
MCBRIDE: Well, what we've seen so far is when they were first introduced, they were introduced for social workers, for nurses and midwives and teachers. And what we had seen was that students were unable to complete their degrees because of the cost of prac.
SCHILLER: Oh, yeah, I understand that. But for medical students going to regional areas, getting prac payments, because we know there's no problem getting people to study medicine, but there's a problem getting them to work in regional Australia.
MCBRIDE: Well, one of the things that we have seen more recently is a big Increase through rural generalism, the new subspecialty within general practice, a big increase in Australian medical graduates going into general practice. We've also introduced a single employer model, which means that someone can transition from medical school to working in primary care in a GP practice. We've also increased the number of Commonwealth supported places, and there are also prac payments and supports available to medical students. So there is other support available, but I acknowledge that we do have both a shortage and distribution challenge with health workforce, including GPs.
SCHILLER: All right.
FELDHOFF: Emma McBride, thank you very much for your time. Emma is the Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention.