The Affordability of Mental Health Care in Australia and its Impact on Young People Seeking Psychological Support

Written By Acshaya Vijayaratnam

Amongst a civilisation of young people that address mental illness through the lens of dark humour

and light-hearted lament, there is a fairly large number of adolescents in Australia that are silently

struggling with their mental health. The state of mental illness in Australia has become increasingly

concerning over the last few years. Nearly 1 in 2 Australians aged 16-85 experience a mental

disorder during their lifetime. In 2019, there were 461 deaths by suicide among young people aged

15-24, a rate of 14 per 100,000 young people.

According to scientific research, 50% of mental health issues emerge before an individual is aged 16

– an age where a young person may not even realise that they are mentally distressed. Therefore, it

is important to consider the mental health of young people and take preventative measures to

ensure that their psychological distress improves over time. This also creates a wider positive impact

– as it is a national responsibility to preserve our future generation’s mental wellness.

The mental health care system in Australia is mostly based around creating a mental health care plan

with your GP – through which an individual is eligible to receive 10 sessions with a clinical or

generalist psychologist. According to the Australian Psychological Society, the average charge for

one session with a psychologist is $260 an hour. However, Medicare rebate is available for these

sessions, which covers 50% of the cost.

Unfortunately, even with the benefits of rebate, many young Australians are not able to afford such

psychologist appointments. The living situations and familial relationships of young people are

extremely diverse and also has a large impact on their ability to access mental health support.

Personal issues may mean many cannot gain financial support from their family, in other

circumstances, parents who associate therapy with negative connotations may also refuse to help

their child financially. Other general financial struggles also leave young people putting their mental

health on the backbench – hoping that their psychological distress will just pass over time.

Child and adolescent psychologist Dr Michael Car-Gregg believes that patients being unable to afford

constant psychology treatment was a prevalent issue that he observed within his practice. He

suggests that despite therapy and psychologist appointments being expensive, the rebates are too

low and must be increased.

It is also inconvenient that after every 10 sessions, a patient must revisit the GP to renew their

referral and mental health treatment plan – a tedious process that may potentially cause an

individual to dawdle and set aside as an errand for later. This can disrupt the flow of a patient’s road

to mental wellness, and the time away from consistent therapy may even exacerbate one’s

psychological distress. Many individuals may also find it hard to discuss such matters with their

personal GP – and it can be a dreadful process for them to repeat. Therefore, the renewal of mental

health treatment plans with GPs is unnecessary and should be diminished in order to ensure that

individuals receive consistent, uninterrupted psychological support.

Complaining about prices and the long-drawn-out process of receiving mental health support is a

largely familiar response when it comes to young people backing out of going to therapy. For many

young Australians, this one decision can impact the rest of life trajectory – often leading to them

mentally dark places that could have been prevented at a younger age. By increasing rebates, and

removing session-based psychology appointments, the Australian mental health care system can

result in a young person being more inclined to seek mental support – ebbing them away from

personal harm, and a step closer to psychological wellness.