ROSS KAY, HOST: A centre offering free mental health support and care for people in distress without the need for an appointment will open today in Bundaberg. The Medicare Mental Health Centre will officially be opened today by Federal Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, Emma McBride. And I'm pleased to say the Assistant Minister joins you now. Emma McBride, good morning.
ASSISTANT MINISTER EMMA MCBRIDE: Thank you. It's good to be back.
KAY: We've got some interesting and quite challenging news at the moment in the region. There's quite a number of high-profile events that are making news across the country. You're the Assistant Minister for Mental Health. It feels almost appropriate that you're here at the moment.
MCBRIDE: Yeah, these sort of tragic events that impact communities can have a ripple effect and I'm pleased to be here today to be officially opening the new Medicare Mental Health Centre. And the Medicare Mental Health Centre might be something that some of your listeners need right now. It's a place where someone in distress or crisis can walk in. They don't need a referral from a doctor, they don't need to make an appointment and they can get immediate information and advice in distress, and in the longer term they can be linked in with other services and support that might help to meet their needs. And we know that this has been hard for people to find in communities in the past. I have a background as a mental health worker and worked in a regional hospital and I saw people end up in crisis because there wasn't that support in the community and that's what we're trying to do here in Bundaberg and right across Queensland and the country.
KAY: So the opening officially is today?
MCBRIDE: The official opening is today. And the centre is at 14 Bourbong Street, just a street across from where we are. It's open from 10 until 5 Monday to Friday. And people can also- your listeners can call 1800 595 212 to be connected to a trained professional who can help link them in with support. Or they can just walk in, as I said, and they're likely to be greeted by a peer worker. And a peer worker is someone with their own personal lived experience. And sometimes that's the best kind of start that you can have to seeking support and care as someone who's walked in your own shoes.
KAY: It's important to highlight that this is available free. The clue is in the name. It's the Medicare Mental Health facility. It's free and covered under Medicare.
MCBRIDE: It's free. And that was one of the things that was so important to us as a government is to make sure that we're putting mental health into the heart of Medicare, and quality care for free in the centre of communities because we want to get rid of any barriers that would prevent someone being able to access care. So as I mentioned, someone doesn't need a referral from a doctor. They don't need to make an appointment and it's free so that they can access the support and care they need. And these centres are staffed by what we call multidisciplinary teams. So as I said, you're likely to be greeted by a peer worker, but they also have counsellors, social workers and we're also developing a virtual network of more specialist mental health providers, so psychologists and psychiatrists, to make sure that if someone does walk into the Medicare Mental Health Centre in Bundy or if they walk into the one I’m opening tomorrow in the Sunny Coast, that if they do need a more specialist mental health clinician, a specialist psychologist or psychiatrist, that will be available to them. And that will be joining our network in the coming months.
KAY: Looking at the distribution of these services across Queensland, are you looking at opening more of these in this term of government? I’m looking at places like Hervey Bay, Maryborough, Gympie. There's a need for these services in all of these major centres.
MCBRIDE: What we're doing is at the moment we have committed to open 24 in Queensland. There's nine up and running already, including the one that I'll officially open here later this morning. And we are- because we want to make sure, and so one of our election commitments was to invest another $225 million in these centres so that we could expand the network. And also in the last budget, I secured close to $30 million to set up that virtual network as well. The intention is- and as I mentioned, I'm a former mental health worker that worked in the regions, is that to bring services closer to home so that people don't have to wait and they can get that care within their own community, because we know that if people can get support sooner then they're much less likely to end up in distress and needing long stays in our mental health inpatient units that I used to work in.
KAY: Are you looking at health centres in rural centres? I'm thinking about places like the inland Burnett where we hear so much about rural people and farmers' mental health and the challenges that they face. It's the benefits of being able to not have to drive, say, two hours to come to a major centre. Telehealth may be good, but sometimes you just want to talk to a person.
MCBRIDE: Yeah, so there’ll be 90 physical centres across the country, including, as I mentioned, 24 right here in Queensland. So the intention is to bring services closer to people and as close as possible because we know that big difference that makes. And you're right, telehealth has really improved access and affordability to services for many places, not just regional or more remote. But there are some people and in some circumstances where someone wants to talk to someone face to face, when they get so much more benefit from having that in-person conversation. We're also working on expanding the network of mental health clinicians because there has been a shortage, not just here in Queensland, but right across the country. And we want to make sure that we're building that pipeline of workforce so that as we expand the centres, we have the staff to be able to provide the support in those centres to make sure that where possible, everybody can have free access to a psychologist or a psychiatrist if they need some.
KAY: So will those services be expanded to places like Hervey Bay, Maryborough and Gympie? Will they each have a mental health centre?
MCBRIDE: So, as I said, and I can give you the full list that you can share with your listeners, but there is nine already open in Queensland. I've opened one in Rockhampton, I've opened one in Logan. We're opening them, trying to take them to as many communities as we can. But I can provide you the full list for your listeners so they'll be able to see where those centres will be opening in the near future.
KAY: Emma McBride, thank you so much for your time this morning.
MCBRIDE: Good to be with you.
KAY: Enjoy the ribbon cutting.
MCBRIDE: Thank you.
KAY: Federal Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, Emma McBride. I'll get that list to you as soon as it becomes available.