The Weekly Times
Regional Australians seeking mental health support continue to be plagued by long wait times and a shortage of psychologists. This is despite a higher incidence of mental concerns in rural and regional communities.
It comes as a leading psychological body calls for federal government incentives to entice more psychologists to be based regionally.
The Australian Healthcare Index report, published last week, showed one in four Australians had sought mental health support in the past six months, with the figure higher among people living in regional, rural and remote areas (27 per cent). The report also found 90 per cent of Australian Psychological Society members had experienced an increase in their wait times, with three out of four psychologists reporting a wait list.
While 28 per cent of Australia's population reside outside major metropolitan centres, just two in 10 psychologists are based regionally, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
Australian Psychological Society chief executive Zena Burgess said the federal government needed to invest in getting more psychologists working and living in areas of need, particularly regional Australia.
"Your postcode should never determine your mental health, yet we continue to see seven million Australians, in some of the most disadvantaged parts of the country, left to fend for themselves," Dr Burgess said. "It shouldn't then come as a surprise that more and more people are losing faith in a mental health system that is not working for them."
Recommendations by the Australian Psychological Society to improve mental health resources in regional Australia include closing the workforce gap by bringing university funding for psychology in line with medicine, dentistry, and veterinary studies, replicating GP regional relocation incentives for psychologists, wiping HECS and HELP debt, and higher regional Medicare rebates.
While the need for mental health support soars in rural communities, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare says only two in 10 psychologists are based regionally.