ROB KIDD, HOST: Here’s a question for you for a Friday morning – is there a crisis in our mental health system around Australia? We heard from the Federal Government earlier about this new clinic for people needing urgent medical care after hours. And it's a very busy day in Mackay with another federal member in town to announce the start of a different clinic. Emma McBride is the Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention and Assistant Minister for Rural and Regional Health, and she joins me in the ABC Tropical North studios. Good morning.
ASSISTANT MINISTER EMMA MCBRIDE: Good to be with you, Rob.
KIDD: Great to be with you today. There are plenty of horror stories around Australia about people with mental health conditions not getting the care they need, often with tragic circumstances. How bad is mental health in Australia?
MCBRIDE: I'm a mental health worker myself, and I've worked in mental health and in regional communities for most of my working life, and in that time, we've seen a big increase in distress amongst Australians, including young Australians. And you're right, that can sometimes lead to tragic consequences. And what I noticed then, working in the hospital system, was that people simply couldn't get the help they needed soon enough. And if they did, it could make a really big difference to them and also to our communities. So this is why we're working on growing a national network of what we're calling Medicare Mental Health Centres, which are essentially walk-in centres where someone doesn't need a diagnosis, they don't need an appointment, and they can get the support and care that they need for free under Medicare.
KIDD: Has this been a problem that we've been wanting to address for so long but we haven't done for whatever reason? What has been the reason?
MCBRIDE: I think in Australia there has, as we've just discussed, been a big increase in distress, and people now in Australia are much better at having conversations about mental health, much more open about their distress. What we needed to do was make sure that when someone was seeking support that the right kind of support was there, and this is what these Medicare Mental Health Centres are designed to be. We're opening now 92 across the country. We've got ones up and running right around the country, including in Queensland, in Rockhampton, in Gladstone, in Townsville, in Kingaroy. And I want to make sure that wherever someone lives, they have the access to the support they need when they need it, because that's been a big barrier to care. The cost, the time, and this is what these centres are really starting to do, and in the communities where they've been introduced, they're making a really big impact.
KIDD: Will it be bulk billed?
MCBRIDE: It's free.
KIDD: It is definitely free?
MCBRIDE: It's free under Medicare. And you're likely to be greeted by a peer worker, so someone who has their own lived experience of mental health challenges.
KIDD: Yeah.
MCBRIDE: And that also helps people to develop a kind of a trust and confidence in the support that they're going to receive. And they're staffed by people like myself, mental health clinicians, social workers, counsellors. And we're also making sure that every centre is networked to a virtual service of psychologists and psychiatrists, understanding although we're working on growing the workforce, that they're unevenly distributed. So to make sure that if you were to walk into the Medicare Mental Health Centre in Mackay or in Kingaroy, that you did need that more specialist expert mental health care from a psychologist or psychiatrist that that would also be available to you for free.
KIDD: When will it be open, and where will it be?
MCBRIDE: We work very closely with communities and existing service providers to make sure that we can get the right location and that it's well linked in with existing services, so it's likely to open in the middle of the year. The provider um has been selected, Grand Pacific Health, and they are an experienced provider that are running these services in other parts of the country. And what they'll do is work with the local community also to identify a location that is accessible and that people can access. The provider, Grand Pacific Health, has been decided this week, and the location is being worked on and should be open in the middle of the year.
KIDD: When you say being worked on, you know where the location is. Surely if you want to open this later this year- we're nearly in April.
MCBRIDE: We are nearly in April, the Primary Health Network, through the government, commissions the provider. The provider then works to find the location and to fit it out, and those things can happen very quickly.
KIDD: They can, okay. All right. Just so people know, please don't confuse this with the Medicare Urgent Care Clinics that we were talking about earlier. These are definitely separate places. But in some ways, they could go hand in hand.
MCBRIDE: What we're trying to do is make sure that whether it's for your physical health or your mental health and wellbeing, that you've got support close to home when you need it and for free. And like the Medicare Urgent Care Clinics for physical health, these centres are open extended hours to make sure that they're there when people need them.
And also, I just wanted to let your listeners know we're also introducing a new national digital service called Medicare Mental Health Check In. From March, your listeners …
KIDD: [Interrupts] What, now?
MCBRIDE: Yes, from the end of March …
KIDD: Oh, sorry, yes.
MCBRIDE: … yeah, your listeners will be able to call 1800 595 212, which is Medicare Mental Health. They'll have a brief assessment and then they'll be linked in with the right kind of service that meets their needs. So that service will be up and running from 30 March, but listeners can register right now through medicarementalhealth.gov.au, and the service will be trained mental health workers providing sessions of therapy for free under Medicare.
KIDD: Do you have enough workers to do this? That's a lot of workers.
MCBRIDE: It is a lot of workers, and we've been working with our partner, St Vincent's Health Australia, who are a very mature and experienced health and mental health provider. And they've been recruiting workers including counsellors, social workers, psychologists. It's a virtual network, so those workers will be across the country, and what they will do is provide support for people who most need it, when they need it – again, for free. So if your listeners are interested, as I mentioned they can go to medicarementalhealth.gov.au to register their interest. And from 30 March, those free counselling sessions will be available.
KIDD: I'm talking to Emma McBride, Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention and Assistant Minister for Rural and Regional Health on ABC Tropical North this morning. We mentioned just before we came on air, you're a pharmacist.
MCBRIDE: I am.
KIDD: And we're talking about the reduction in dollars that people have to pay to get their particular drugs. And you were just telling me before, because of the reduction in prices, that it has made people who need them take them. Can you elaborate on that further?
MCBRIDE: And I've heard this. I was just visiting a local pharmacist in Mackay this morning, but I've heard it in pharmacies in the suburbs and towns right across the country. So when we came to government, general prescriptions were $42.50. We cut that down to $30, and now it's been cut to $25.
KIDD: Right.
MCBRIDE: And so that has made a big difference, because I saw as a pharmacist and heard from others that people were delaying or avoiding getting prescriptions filled because of the cost.
KIDD: Yeah.
MCBRIDE: Some people were buying pill splitters to cut their tablet in half to stretch it out. Some were taking their medication every second day rather than every day. And what we're hearing now is that because of the reduction in costs, that people are now getting their scripts filled on time and are taking them as they're prescribed, which is much better for their health and wellbeing, and also will in time reduce pressure on our hospitals and emergency departments because their health is better managed.
KIDD: Is enough public money being put into mental health in this country, especially in regional areas like ours?
MCBRIDE: At the last election, we made a commitment to invest more than $1 billion in mental health and suicide prevention. And as someone who grew up in a regional community myself and is responsible for regional communities, we're making sure that significant money is flowing into regional communities. For example, your local headspace in Mackay received an additional almost $800,000 to be able to relocate in 2024. And it's also received an additional nearly $500,000 this financial year to manage demand. So we're trying to make sure as more people are experiencing distress in communities that we're investing in resourcing them so that we can meet that growing demand, and we want to make sure whether you're someone who lives in Mackay or who lives in Rockhampton or Mount Isa that that support is there for you.
So a big investment, and particularly in the mental health of young people, because young Australians today experience the most distress of any age group. And we know that there's lots of different drivers of that distress, and we want to make sure that support is available to them sooner because that will make a big difference for them, but also for us as communities.
KIDD: Can you guarantee that the most vulnerable won't fall through the cracks?
MCBRIDE: As a mental health worker myself …
KIDD: [Interrupts] We've heard so many stories.
MCBRIDE: … and, you know, for individuals and for families, it's really, really tough. And what we want to make sure is that that safety net is there, that we catch people sooner. Sadly, too many Australians have been affected by mental health challenges and the tragic consequences of that. And we want to make sure that we help to strengthen communities, provide the right resources so that fewer Australians are left in need.
KIDD: And for our listeners who actually don't live in Mackay, it's nice that you're here seeing the beautiful blue skies out the side of my window. You might be in the Whitsundays or even in the Isaac. Any other way they access a very similar service or just remind us the service now, where to go again?
MCBRIDE: Yeah, so for young Australians, they can go to a headspace centre in their community. There is a headspace in the Whitsundays. We've got 175 across the country. The last one we opened was in Deception Bay, just outside of Brisbane last Friday. But we're growing that network to 203 with more in-reach and outreach to more remote communities. We're also expanding this network of Medicare Mental Health Centres, but all of them are a network to virtual clinicians so that if you are in a very remote community or aren't able to access one in person, there is a digital service that is available to you.
KIDD: And it actually would just be- I know the news is coming up, but- I mean, have we- technology has changed in so many ways. Are we sure the technology is keeping up with the services that you want to offer?
MCBRIDE: And this is a big focus of myself as a health minister and of our government as a whole. And one of the big changes that I've seen in my working life as a pharmacist is how technology is enabling care and how technology is assisting us to be able to provide the best care, including to the most remote parts of Australia.
KIDD: I really appreciate your time this morning. Thank you so much for joining us.
MCBRIDE: Pleasure to be with you, Rob.
KIDD: On ABC Tropical North, Emma McBride, the Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention and Assistant Minister for Rural and Regional Health.