The Senate today agreed to a new reporting date of 20 September 2011 for the inquiry into the Government’s funding and administration of mental health services in Australia with particular reference to:
(a) the Government’s 2011-12 Budget changes relating to mental health;
(b) changes to the Better Access Initiative, including:
(i) the rationalisation of general practitioner (GP) mental health services,
(ii) the rationalisation of allied health treatment sessions,
(iii) the impact of changes to the Medicare rebates and the two-tiered rebate structure
for clinical assessment and preparation of a care plan by GPs, and
(iv) the impact of changes to the number of allied mental health treatment services for
patients with mild or moderate mental illness under the Medicare Benefits Schedule;
(c) the impact and adequacy of services provided to people with mental illness through the Access to Allied Psychological Services program;
(d) services available for people with severe mental illness and the coordination of those services;
(e) mental health workforce issues, including:
(i) the two-tiered Medicare rebate system for psychologists,
(ii) workforce qualifications and training of psychologists, and
(iii) workforce shortages;
(f) the adequacy of mental health funding and services for disadvantaged groups, including:
(i) culturally and linguistically diverse communities,
(ii) Indigenous communities, and
(iii) people with disabilities;
(g) the delivery of a national mental health commission; and
(h) the impact of online services for people with a mental illness, with particular regard to those living in rural and remote locations and other hard to reach groups; and
(j) any other related matter.
Any interested individual or organisation can make a submission and these can be submitted online or sent by email to community.affairs.sen@aph.gov.au as an attached Adobe PDF or MS Word format document. The email must include full postal address and contact details.
Alternatively, written submissions may be sent to:
Committee Secretary
Senate Standing Committees on Community Affairs
PO Box 6100
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Australia
More details about the inquiry are available at: http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/clac_ctte/comm_fund_men_hlth/info.htm
Saturday, 20 August 2011 8:43 AM
Hi Concetta,
I have made a submission to the Senate inquiry. I appreciate the opportunity. As a consumer who has been diagnosed with depression and anxiety, I trust you can find time to read it. It's my story ... warts and all.
As a consumer who utilises the Better Access scheme in its current form, I am very concerned and becoming increasingly anxious due to the savage cutbacks to the scheme in regard to the Medicare rebated sessions for therapy with a psychologist being cut back from a maximum of 18 to 10 in acute circumstances.
Concetta, I know of other consumers who may be affected by the changes to Better Access. Where do we go when we have used up our 10 sessions? We don't know what to do. We are becoming increasingly worried. We don't fall within the age bracket in which Headspace targets.
Concetta, I invite you to contact me. I have tried the media, but there seems a reluctance for them to want to write about consumer stories like mine. They don't seem skilled enough or prepared to write about an angle which concerns consumers at the margins ... I am not a number, I am a real person with genuine concerns for myself and others. We need an opportunity to be heard. Can you help us?
Regards,
Darren Stones
Saturday, 20 August 2011 1:20 PM
Good morning,
I would like to know who came up with 10 as the magical number of sessions required to "cure" someone of "mental illness or depression"?? It can take years to work through!
I think that perhaps a little more research and thought needs to go into this matter. Depression affects a very large portion of the population.
Please re think the strategy, please do not shut the door on a vast number of people who need this help.
Kind regards
Kelly Jones.
Saturday, 20 August 2011 5:04 PM
I would strongly encourage all senators to make themselves familiar with the stories of clients who have accessed psychological services in the Better Access program, which you can read at: http://www.betteraccess.net
Those who have offered to share their story have made a very brave decision to step out into the open for the sake of helping our decision-makers in Australia make the right choices for mental health policy.
We all want improved mental health services, but new investment should not be coming at the cost of our existing services in Australia that have been shown to work so well as the Better Access program.
Thank you for extending this inquiry to give people more of a chance to put their views forward.
Saturday, 20 August 2011 5:58 PM
Dear Senator,
Thank you, first of all. I have spent fourteen years in the public mental health system, and another three years seeing a private psychologist through the Better Access Scheme. By far, seeing a psychologist has helped me more than anything else. I have spent the last three years seeing her, and given the complexities of my situation, the idea of going to ATAPS and possibly seeing someone different each visit - there's just no way. Physically there is no way because my GP is not in my local ATAPS area, and I am not travelling that far (I have a physical disability as well).
Ten sessions a year means less than one a month. This will barely mean we can cover daily life, let alone work on my issues enough so that I can get back to work. I desperately want to work!!!
Also - I have a son with Asperger's. He sees a psychologist as well, and this will also cut his sessions. He has no other option - he does not have a mental illness. His anxiety is a part of his Asperger's, not a diagnosis on it's own.
Thank you for your time and attention.
Linda.
Saturday, 20 August 2011 6:08 PM
Dear Concetta,
One of the criticisms levelled at people opposing the planned cuts to Better Access is that consumers of the program have not spoken-up in support of it. This argument is ludicrose on many levels.
The stigma that still surrounds mental illness in Australia is reason enough for people not to go public that they have been consumers of the program. However, it must also be said that people who are dealing with mental illness are in a fragile emotional and mental state, and not in a position to take on the added stress of needing to advocate for their fundamental right to have access to universal mental health services.
I implore you Senator to do all in your power to speak up for consumers against these cuts that will leave extremely vulnerable people further exposed and unable to access the care necessary to get well.
Yours sincerely,
Alison Fairleigh