The Australian Psychological Society (APS) is renewing its call for the Federal Government to urgently fund more mental health services following the shocking figures revealed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) in their National Mental Health and Wellbeing Survey released today.
The ABS survey of more than 16,000 people found little to no improvement in mental health rates or outcomes in the last 12-months, with almost a quarter (21.5%) of Australian’s suffering a mental disorder during 2020-22. Anxiety was the most common group of mental disorders (17.2%) followed by affective disorders like depression (7.5%) and substance abuse (3.3%).
The study also showed that nearly 40% of young people aged 16-24 had a 12-month mental disorder, showing little improvement on the previous reporting period. Almost half (45.5%) were young females and one third (32.4%) young males.
APS President Dr Catriona Davis-McCabe said this comprehensive survey underlined the need to act urgently to save lives saying “these shocking figures confirm what psychologists on the ground are telling us every day. Millions of people are in crisis and there isn’t enough support”.
“With the cost of living crisis in full swing, there is no doubt that the situation has gotten worse since the completion of the survey a year ago.”
The survey also showed that accessibility of psychological services remains a key barrier to care, with just 7.8% of people able to see a psychologist.
“People trust psychologists to help return them to health and want more affordable and accessible care, but only a small section of the community can access treatment. This isn’t fair.” Said Dr Davis-McCabe.
“We can’t afford to have millions of people spiralling into under or untreated mental health disorders that have the potential to change trajectory of their lives forever.”
To fix this crisis the APS is strongly advocating for the federal government to:
- Close the current workforce gap by bringing university funding for psychology in line with medicine, dentistry and veterinarian studies
- Replicate GP regional relocation incentives for psychologists, including wiping off HECS-HELP debt
- Introduce higher regional Medicare rebates
- Establish a Youth Mental Health Safety net for vulnerable young people
- Provide more psychologists in schools to build resilience in our school kids
- Ensure regional communities have sufficient internet access to utilise telehealth, and
- Invest in regional perinatal and digital health services.
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 X: @AustPsych
The APS is the largest professional organisation for psychologists in Australia, representing more than 25,000 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.