This week the Health and Environment Committee released its report on the Inquiry into the provision of primary, allied and private health care, aged care and NDIS care services and its impact on the Queensland public health system.
We are proud to share that the APS has been referenced throughout the report, showing the relevance and significance of the recommendations we outlined in our submission to the Inquiry in late 2021.
In our submission, which builds on priorities identified in our pre-Budget submission, we revealed the clear increase in the need for mental health support due to the devastating 2020 bushfire season, impacts of climate change, as well as the effects of the global COVID-2019 pandemic and associated restrictions.
Given the current shortage of psychological support in Queensland and most specifically in rural and remote locations, we strongly recommended that urgent federal funding is needed to broaden that support.
The Committee has referenced the APS eight times throughout the report in the context of the following areas:
- Increase in mental health presentations to emergency departments and the fact that this is colloquially named as the ‘canary in the coalmine’ (p.25)
- Access to mental health care and the associated risks in waiting a long time to receive treatment (p.54)
- Our survey findings from September 2021 and the increase in wait times, waitlists and telehealth (p.54)
- Our calls for the retention of telehealth psychology sessions and the additional 10 subsidised sessions, made available under Medicare during the COVID-19 pandemic (p.55)
- Workforce shortages and the fact that the psychological workforce has not grown to meet this demand (p.92)
Our full list of recommendations is also included on the initiatives needed to support the psychological workforce, which in turn will ease the pressure on the Queensland public health system (p.93). These are:
- the revitalisation of the 2010 APS ‘Find a psychologist’ virtual waiting room – Australia’s largest searchable database for private psychologists
- providing support and incentives to address the shortage of psychologists working in the public sector
- ensuring paid employment pathways for provisional psychologists in both public and private settings
- ensuring clear pathways for a paid graduate workforce in the public care sector and eligibility to work in private practice
- improving funding for psychological qualifications for tertiary students and offering scholarships to encourage students to practice psychology, particularly in rural and remote settings, including the expansion of the Workforce Incentive Program to include psychology practices in regional, rural and remote areas
- incentivising supervised, federally funded placements which are critical to the skill development required in psychological training
- initiatives to increase the diversity of post-graduate psychology courses, including subsidising or re-banding post-graduate courses to ease the cost burden on higher education providers
- ensuring adequate funding is provided to address current gaps in healthcare for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, including a focus on training Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to become primary healthcare workers.
This is another example of our advocacy at its best. These are issues faced by all states and territories and we are continuing to make the case for reform of public health systems across the country. We will work with the Queensland Government on how these recommendations can be implemented.
Further reading
Inquiry into the provision of primary, allied and private health care, aged care and NDIS care services and its impact on the Queensland public health system
Response to The Provision of Primary, Allied and Private Health Care, Aged Care and NDIS Care Services and its Impact on the Queensland Public Health System
Federal Election Statement 2022: Action on mental health
Pre-Budget Submission 2022-23