APS Response to Mental Health Consortium Sector-Led Advice on Youth Mental Health Services

The Australian Psychological Society (APS) welcomed the opportunity to contribute to the Models of Care Consortium’s consultation on youth mental health services. Psychologists are essential to the delivery of youth mental health care in Australia, providing evidence-based, person-centred support across the continuum of need—from prevention and early intervention through to complex care. Our submission emphasises the urgent need for a more integrated, accessible, and person-centred youth mental health system that is underpinned by psychological science and responsive to the unique needs of young people. 

In particular, we highlighted the following:

• System fragmentation and unmet needs: the current system is fragmented, often failing to provide consistent and appropriate care—particularly for vulnerable groups such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth, those in the child protection system, and young people without housing security or living in rural and remote areas.

• Need to support early intervention and prevention: we strongly advocate for strategic investment in prevention and early intervention, particularly through embedding psychologists in schools. The APS supports a national benchmark of one school psychologist per 500 students, which would improve early identification and intervention, and long-term outcomes.

• The importance of service integration and workforce development: we call for improved service coordination, expanded outreach, youth-led service design, and the integration of psychosocial and clinical care. It also highlights the need to bolster the psychological workforce and protect discipline-specific roles.

• Need to improve acces and affordability: we recommend introducing a $0 Medicare safety net threshold for Better Access psychology services for young people aged 14–25. This would ensure access to timely psychological care without financial hardship.

• Expanding models of care: we support a broad scope of system design, including better transitions between child and adult services, consideration of the ‘missing middle’, and increased investment in trauma-informed, culturally safe services.

We thank your members for their contributions and remain committed to ensuring that youth mental health reform is guided by evidence and expert psychological input.

View submission