APS Pre-Budget Submission 2024-25 - Looking to the future: Leveraging psychology to strengthen Australia’s resilience

Integral to the cultural identity of Australia is our resilience and adaptability to change. However, we have seen this resilience come under strain recently against the backdrop of profound multiple economic, environmental, health and social challenges. Looking to the future, psychology has a crucial role in supporting all Australians to live a life that is healthy, secure, sustainable, cohesive, and contributes to the economy.

The 2024–25 Budget is an opportunity for innovative and future-facing investments that will enable the profession of psychology to enhance Australia’s resilience and wellbeing in the face of climate change and increasingly frequent disasters.

In this Pre-Budget Submission, the Australian Psychological Society (APS) calls for:

• The expansion of the APS Disaster Response Network (DRN) to enable it to proactively prepare communities for the impact of disasters.
• Continued investment in the DRN to ensure ongoing responsiveness to front line emergency workers and volunteers in communities impacted by disasters.
• The development of evidence-based school programs, delivered by school psychologists to equip students with strategies to cope with adversity and manage stress.
• The introduction of a Medicare youth mental health safety net to enable more young Australians to access mental health services in an affordable and sustainable way.
• The development of psychology-informed resources to support the transition of care between digital mental health services and professional-led mental health services.
• The provision of subsidised training and learning opportunities to help the psychology and mental health workforce to use AI to support their clinical practice.
• The establishment of a national panel of young Australians to understand the psychological and ethical impacts and needs relating to AI on our youth.

Representing the trusted profession for mental health, evidence-based research and practice, and community partnerships, the APS looks forward to working with the Government to deliver these initiatives.

View submission