As the country heads into a flurry of political activity, now is our opportunity to continue to make clear to all political parties exactly what Australians need when it comes to their mental health and wellbeing.
Our Federal Election statement outlines our priorities for the next Australian Government.
These policy positions have been on our agenda for a long time, however they have become critical. The cumulative impacts of COVID-19, natural disasters and psychology workforce shortages have impacted Australians across the country, in a perfect storm.
We will use our Federal Election statement to drive our efforts in the coming weeks and the months.
The priority for our Government: Australians and psychologists need help more than ever
The picture is clear. Australians need help more than ever:
- Anxiety, stress, trauma and depression are among the most reported patient conditions
- 3.2 million young Australians (16 to 24 years old) need expert help
- One in four young Australians thought about suicide over the past two years
- The 2020 Productivity Commission Report on mental health estimated mental ill-health costs Australians $600m per day, or $220bn per year
- More than 90% of patients and carers would recommend seeing a psychologist (Lived Experience Australia (2021))
- Psychologists are working on average an extra 17 hours unpaid a week
- Federal Government is only meeting 35% of the psychology workforce target it listed in the National Mental Health Service Planning Framework
What needs to be done
These are the ten urgent policy actions that must be taken by Government to overcome the dire need for more psychological support. You can read them in full here:
1. Invest in surge psychology workforce to ensure disaster readiness and response
2. Support the perinatal mental health of all Australian parents
3. Give young Australians access to psychologists at school
4. Support child mental health hubs
5. Introduce a youth mental health safety net
6. Ensure COVID-19 mental health recovery through bulk billing and rural incentives
7. Use telehealth and Find a Psychologist to overcome wait times and connect Australians to psychologists
8. Future-proof the psychology workforce
9. Strengthen the psychology workforce
10. Get new graduates ready to handle any mental health issue by providing expert supervision and professional development
Read the statement
We take a multi-pronged approach to inserting psychology’s voice into policy decisions: meetings with politicians and bureaucrats, proactive submissions to Government, strategic engagement with the national media, and representations on multiple committees and consultations. This election statement is just one piece of that work. None of which would happen without you, our members, who make all of this possible.
We have already secured several meetings in the leadup to the election to continue to make our case. I look forward to sharing with you the outcomes and encourage you to follow our progress through APS Update and the news section of our website.
Tamara Cavenett FAPS GAICD
APS President