Counsellors and psychotherapists provide a wide range of supports in the community. As well as mental health, they provide assistance with the elderly, disabled, those working through substance issues, refugees and quite often those most marginalised members of the community.

The final report from the Select Committee on Mental Health and Suicide Prevention has rejected the call from ACA and PACFA to include Counsellors and Psychotherapists on the MBS. This means that these services are not able to provide bulk billing, thereby limiting peoples choice in the type of support services they can access.

We firmly believe that by providing a broader range of services, more people will seek help before circumstances become problematic. We respectfully ask that this be considered as part of your mental health policy in your upcoming election campaign. The pandemic has put an unprecedented level of distress and hardship on people and we believe that these professions having access to a Medicare provider number can help address the current gap in services and as part of a stepped care system.