Radio interview with Assistant Minister McBride and Jeremy Jones, ABC Capricornia – 22 January 2025

Read the transcript of Assistant Minister McBride's interview with Jeremy Jones on Medicare Mental Health Centres.

The Hon Emma McBride MP
Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention
Assistant Minister Rural and Regional Health

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JEREMY JONES, ABC CAPRICORNIA: Well, if you've tried to access mental health services, you've probably had a wait on your hands having to book in with a GP. A new service wants to make the process easier. With the federal government rolling out what they're calling Medicare Mental Health Centres. Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention for Rural and Regional Communities, Emma McBride, is with us now, and she's on a roadshow to open the centres, and Assistant Minister, thank you for your time this morning. What is a Medicare Mental Health Centre?  

ASSISTANT MINISTER EMMA MCBRIDE: Thank you Jeremy, it's really good to be back. And last June, you'll recall I was here in your community announcing that the Albanese Labor Government would be opening 2 Medicare Mental Health Centres in central Queensland, one right here in Rockhampton and one down the Bruce in Gladstone. And I'm so pleased today that those Medicare Mental Health Centres are now open, and helping local people. So a Medicare Mental Health Centre is a place where you can walk in without an appointment, without a referral, and receive free care in your community, and they're already making an impact.  

JONES: So with that, the practicalities of it here, I think the situation people might relate to is knowing possibly a loved one, or themselves, and things have gotten too much. They need care straight away. How does that process then work from that, realising that it is an emergency to getting the help? 

MCBRIDE: So if someone, if you yourself are in distress or someone close to you needs support, you can walk in to the Medicare Mental Health Centre in Rockhampton. It's at 347 William Street and open from 10 to 5, Monday to Friday. If you need to, if you prefer to call, you can call 1800595212 to be able to be linked in with support. And when you walk in, Jeremy, you're likely to be greeted by a peer worker. And a peer worker is someone who's had their own direct lived experience of mental health. So someone who understands the situation that you're in and knows how to navigate the system of support and care. If you do require more specialist support in Rockhampton, there's a mental health social worker and also a clinical psychologist that will be available to work with you to provide that clinical therapy if you do require it.  

JONES: With those roles there as well, we do have a notorious shortage of health workers in CQ. How has it been filling those roles and the expectation to keep filling them into the future? 

MCBRIDE: So in Rockhampton, there is both a senior clinician who's a social worker and a clinical psychologist. And we understand, and I as a health worker myself, who's worked in the region, the shortages of health care workers that we've had, but also where they work. As part of the Medicare Mental Health Centres, we're setting up a virtual network. I secured close to another $30 million in the last Budget to be able to set up a virtual network of psychologists and psychiatrists. So if somebody does need a psychiatrist and a psychologist, they then will be able to be linked to one through that virtual network. 

JONES: There is a revamped mental health centre being built at the Rockhampton Base Hospital. Are you hoping these services will take pressure off the hospital? 

MCBRIDE: We are, and we've seen that with including in Rockhampton with the Medicare Urgent Care clinic where these services are provided, that they do reduce the pressures and the demands on emergency departments. And it also means for, an individual that they can get care in a supportive environment. Our emergency departments are really busy places. And for someone in distress, walking into a Medicare Mental Health Centre will be walking into a safe place that's welcoming and where they can get immediate support. 

JONES: That, where they’re at the front of it there to, Medicare, it's, the service free? 

MCBRIDE: The service is free. We wanted to make sure that there were no barriers to somebody being able to access care. So no appointment, no referral, no out-of-pocket costs, to make sure that people in communities like Rockhampton and across Capricornia can get the support they need. And we know that those barriers have meant that people have had to wait too long for care and might have ended up in crisis, and we want to make sure that we avoid that so every person in communities across Australia can get the support they need sooner. 

JONES You're hearing from the Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention and for Rural and Regional Health, Emma McBride. A little bit later on this morning, we're going to head to Clermont, whose medical woes continue with only one GP clinic left in the town at the end of the month. There've been across CQ pressure on local hospitals, ambulance ramping, overrun emergency departments. We are approaching an upcoming election. Has the government done enough to ensure better medical services for Central Queensland? 

MCBRIDE: When we came into government, after almost a decade of neglect and underinvestment from the former government, many of these services were under strain and we've been working to increase the number of medical students in regional universities, including increasing those places. We've also seen 17,000 new doctors registered to practise in Australia over the last 2 years. More junior doctors are also choosing to train to be general practitioners, and we're making that transition from hospital-based training to general practice smoother for them. So I understand, as a pharmacist who worked in a regional community, how hard it has been for people to be able to see a GP when they need one. And we're working to, as I said, grow the number of medical students in regional centres, increase the number of junior doctors choosing to do general practise, and making that transition from hospital based training to community care easier for them. So I know that it has been difficult for a long time. We're working to improve that. And I know also with the addition of Medicare urgent care clinics and also Medicare Mental Health Centres, that can also boost access to primary care for people in the regions. 

JONES: Well, Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention and for Rural and Regional Health, Emma McBride, thank you for your time this morning. 

MCBRIDE: Good to be with you, Jeremy. Thank you. 

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