Lived Experience Australia’s latest report from their nationwide survey shows that most Australians are having a positive experience with their psychological treatment, but that barriers to care such as wait times and cost continue to be an issue.
The survey of Australians in November aimed to understand psychological service needs of mental health consumers and carers and use the findings to provide a collective voice to government and service providers to inform service and policy design.
They found that:
- overall, Australians are happy with the care psychologists are providing, with 76% reporting being satisfied with the service
- over 90% of consumers said they would recommend seeing a psychologist to a family member or friend
- close to 85% noticed positive changes in health and wellbeing since seeing a psychologist.
However, there are some key barriers to care, some of which chime with the APS’s own research conducted with our members in September 2021 regarding wait lists:
- almost three-quarters of consumers reported being able to see a psychologist within 3 months of referral
- over half of consumer and carer respondents saw the need for a GP referral as a barrier to accessing treatment
- over half of consumer and carer respondents reported having to pay a gap fee for the psychologist, with the mean average gap fee reported by carers $161 and the mean average gap fee reported by consumers $176
APS President Tamara Cavenett said of the findings:
“We know that when people seeking support don’t receive it when they need it, the outcomes can be devastating. Barriers to care such as cost, availability and wait times have been dramatically intensified by the pandemic. These survey results reaffirm our position that the Government needs to look closely at improving every Australian’s ability to see a psychologist, so that we can minimise these risks and ensure optimum care for those seeking support.”
We will be using the findings to continue to influence government on issues such as wait lists, workforce shortages and fees.
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Consumer & Carer Experiences of Psychological Service