LORETTA RYAN, HOST: Well, we talk constantly about the pressures around mental health and the increase in demand for services. You, our listeners, have told us just how real the struggle is.
CRAIG ZONCA, HOST: And this morning on Brisbane's north side, the Federal Government has the key. Three, in fact, are easing some of that pressure. Three new Medicare Mental Health Centres will open, allowing patients in need to walk through the door for support without a moment's notice. Emma McBride is the Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention and is in studio this morning. Emma McBride, good morning to you.
ASSISTANT MINISTER EMMA MCBRIDE: Good to be back.
ZONCA: You were just nodding along to that discussion about mobile phones and children. Have you had to have similar discussions within your family?
MCBRIDE: And this is something that affects so many people and families and why the Commonwealth is now making social media take responsibility for social harm. And we know that the children who gain most connection through digital media are also the ones who can be most vulnerable to the risks. So it is listening closely to teachers, to parents and caregivers and understanding, helping children to understand how to navigate digital media but at the same time to protect them from the harms as they're developing.
RYAN: That's right, because we're talking about mental health this morning. And when it comes to phones, how does that connect with mental health?
MCBRIDE: Well, we have seen and we know that in Australia, the highest prevalence of mental ill health in Australia is among 16 to 24-year-olds.
ZONCA: Wow.
MCBRIDE: And we know there are many contributing factors, and one of those for many young people can be digital and social media. So how do we keep them connected through your example, like Google Classroom or through eHeadspace to the educational health services that they need, but at the same time protect them from those risks?
ZONCA: Let's talk about these three new centres that will be opening from today, Emma McBride?
MCBRIDE: I'm so pleased to be back here and to be able to let your listeners know, because I know how many people in the community are impacted by distress and how that distress can end up in crisis if there's not services close to home and when they need them. So these three centres up and running, and what it will mean that someone doesn't need to wait for an appointment, they can walk in to get immediate support and advice. If they do need ongoing support, there are clinical staff there as well, psychologists, social workers, mental health nurses, to be able to give them that wraparound support to address all of the different needs that might be driving that distress. And, importantly, free, because one of the biggest barriers for so many people has been costs, out-of-pocket costs, that mean that even if they were able to get a referral, they might not be able to see the clinician that they need to.
LRYAN: And the other ones that have rolled out already, have you seen that they are of benefit and they are working as intended?
MCBRIDE: We have seen the impact, and so many people spoken to me about their own experience. I was talking to a man in his 50s, and he'd gone through a really tough time, including having to find a new place to live after a relationship breakdown. And when he went to the Medicare Mental Health Centre, they were able to look at all of the different things that were contributing to his distress. So it's that wraparound support. They were able to help him to find secure housing. They then linked him in with the Men’s Shed where he could find kind of community connection and purpose. So they're addressing all of the different drivers that contribute to people's distress.
ZONCA: That's interesting. So social isolation, also part of this mix that you speak of, Emma McBride in studio, the Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention. So those three centres, have you got the locations in front of you, Emma?
MCBRIDE: Yes, I do. So, in Lutwyche- they're 566 Lutwyche Road. Strathpine, 7/372 Gympie Road. And in Caboolture, level 1/21 Pettigrew Street. And they're open extended hours, and as I said, I would like to let all of your listeners know that they can walk in, and if they just want some information or advice for themselves, but also perhaps for a family member or friend, that's available to them. But ongoing clinical support through psychologists and psychiatrists. And I'm also pleased to let you know that in the coming months, this network, which nationally will be 9123 in Queensland, will be linked to telehealth for psychologists and psychiatrists. So if you do need that more specialist clinical support, you'll be able to access that as well, either face-to-face or via virtual health, again, for free.
RYAN: It's 7.20 on 612 ABC Brisbane. Emma McBride is the Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, joining us in studio. Since you last came to Brisbane, we've had a major facility closed, the Toowong Private Hospital. How concerning is that at the moment and how are we fixing this need up?
MCBRIDE: And Minister Butler has spoken about this nationally, and I've heard particularly locally, what we're trying to do as a Commonwealth is provide the right kind of resources and support. But ultimately, in this case, I think it's a private service and a commercial decision of that. But particularly for veterans and their families, we're also rolling out veterans and families hubs. There is one that opened in Caboolture back in 2023 and there'll be one coming in Ipswich, which is under construction. And the veterans and family hubs are a similar model to the Medicare mental health centres where you can walk in, where they're free. And they also are designed to look at the particular challenges that veterans face transitioning to civilian life. So they help them with employment, they help them with housing, and they can also help them with their mental health, and also help the people around them because it's not just the veteran, it's their partner, it's their children.
And the one in my community, Jamie's a veteran there. He spent some of his time as a baker. And also he then can kind of share his own personal experience as a veteran transitioning into community life and that does give veterans a lot of confidence as well to know that a veteran themselves is working in this centre and walking alongside them.
ZONCA: Just on that point though, Emma McBride, it seems that particularly for Toowong Private Hospital, it was the inpatient care, you know, longer stays and specified programs for military veterans. And we are a big military area around South East Queensland. And that void just can't be met by other facilities here right now. What other options can there be for that inpatient care?
MCBRIDE: And this is an- I worked in acute inpatient services for nearly 10 years, and what I saw was people who were in distress end up in crisis and then needing acute support because there often hadn't been that support earlier and wraparound. So what we're trying to do is look at earlier intervention. And next year, from 1 January, we'll have a new National Early Intervention Service for veterans as well as for others, which will again be free, where people are able to have sessions with trained mental health professionals to give them the skills that they need and also the support that they deserve.
So what we're trying to do at a national level is build earlier intervention, mainstream services, but also particular services, for example, with these veterans and families hubs for people that have, through their service to our community, need and deserve better support.
RYAN: Yeah, and it seems like it has to- as you said, early intervention, but also has to start from day one when the younger ones are entering the Defence Force now so that in years to come, they don't go through these problems.
MCBRIDE: And for the first time now with the Australian Defence Force, where they're working with- in designing the overall approach with people who are currently in the Australian Defence Force and also with veterans, because previously they were separate and what that meant that it wasn't integrated, that it was fragmented and that often the impact is from their service but experienced as a veteran.
RYAN: Another big issue is around cheaper medication and legislation, we wanted to talk about this morning, introduced to the Parliament. What sort of effect will that have for patients?
MCBRIDE: I've already seen, when we came to government, we reduced the cost of PBS general scripts by $12.50. And I'd worked in community pharmacies in my electorate where people would come to me with the shopping trolley full and they'd have prescriptions in their hand and say, which one do I need to get filled and which one can I delay to get filled? And we were hearing this from pharmacists in communities right around the country.
So what it'll mean that from 1 January next year, every PBS general prescription will be reduced to $25. To give your listeners some context, the last time they were $25 was in 2004 when I was an early career pharmacist. So this big investment is making a real difference in people's access to vital medicines. And again, we shouldn't, in a country like Australia, have a parent or an individual having to choose between, you know, which medicine they can get filled and which one they have to delay. And this is already- I've heard from many pharmacists, and I was at the Pharmacy Society of Australia conference just a couple of weeks ago and heard from so many pharmacists about the difference that $12.50 cut has made already, but the difference that they're expecting to see from a further cut from 1 January next year will make.
ZONCA: Emma McBride, really appreciate you coming in this morning. Here in town today to open these three new Medicare mental health centres, one in Lutwyche, Strathpine and Caboolture. Really appreciate your time this morning. Thank you.
MCBRIDE: Good to be back.
ZONCA: Emma McBride, the Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention.