The Australian Psychological Society (APS) is calling on all parties to commit to ensuring regional, rural and remote Australians in dire need of mental health support are no longer treated like second class citizens forced to fend for themselves.
Despite 28% of our population calling regional, rural and remote Australia home, only 2 in 10 psychologists are in regional Australia.
APS President Tamara Cavenett stressed the need to for urgent change.
“Your postcode should never determine your mental health, yet we continue to see 7 million Australians, in some of the most disadvantaged parts of the country, left to fend for themselves.
With some of the highest rates of alcoholism, depression, self-harm and suicide found in regional, rural and remote Australia, how long will the government stand by and continue to think this is good enough?”
“These people put food on our plates, clothes on our backs and power our homes but we can’t help them when they’re at their lowest ebb? This national shame must be brought to light.”
The Federal Government is currently meeting only 35% of its psychology workforce target, the largest shortfall of any mental health workforce and, unlike GPs, there are no incentives for psychologists to relocate to regional areas.
Ms Cavenett noted the disparity between GPs and psychologists.
“GPs save lives each day and deserve the support they get, but we have to address the mental health deserts sweeping across regional Australia during the shadow pandemic.”
“In regional, rural and remote Australia many people are lucky to simply get onto a wait list, and even then wait times of more than 12-months are common in some areas.”
Recent APS research found nationally 1 in 3 psychologists are unable to take new patients due to overwhelming demand. Before the pandemic this was 1 in 100.
The APS is strongly advocating for all political parties to commit to:
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closing the current workforce gap by bringing university funding for psychology in line with medicine, dentistry and veterinarian studies
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replicating GP regional relocation incentives for psychologists, including wiping off HECS-HELP debt
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higher regional Medicare rebates
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paid opportunities for provisional psychologists to work in supervised positions
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ensuring regional communities have sufficient internet access to utilise telehealth
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making the temporary 10 additional Medicare subsidised sessions permanent, and
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investing in regional perinatal and digital health services.
The full APS Federal Election Statement can be found here.
For more information, or to arrange an interview call the APS Media team on 03 8662 3358 / 0435 896 444, or email. Find the APS Media team on Twitter: @AustPsych
The APS is the largest professional organisation for psychologists in Australia, representing more than 27,000 members. The APS is committed to advancing psychology as a discipline and profession. It spreads the message that psychologists make a difference to people’s lives, through improving psychological knowledge and community wellbeing.