Australians need easy access to mental health support. But by the end of 2022, Medicare subsidised psychology sessions will be halved, from 20 to 10.

Throughout the pandemic Australians have embraced telehealth services to access support with their mental health. Telehealth has been a resounding success for both clients and practitioners. As part of the government's Covid initiative access to telehealth psychology was made available to all Australians. The number of psychology sessions which an individual could access via Medicare funding in a calendar year was increased to 20. These two changes have been very beneficial in terms of creating easier access to mental health care for all Australians.

While the government announced that telehealth will become a primary feature of primary health care, the 10 additional sessions are available only till December 2022. I urge the government to make Medicare funded 20 psychology sessions a permanent change. This will provide certainty for people with mental health concerns throughout Australia.

Ten sessions are not enough for someone living with mental health issues. It is just an arbitrary number decided by the government. Various psychologist associations and groups believe that we need to increase the number to 20 permanently.

Australian research has found that to obtain improved outcomes 70% of clients required over 20 sessions of therapy. Harnett, O’Donovan, and Lambert (2010) found that 50% of clients at two university training clinics were estimated to recover after 14 sessions and 70% required 23 sessions. Please sign this petition to ensure these items are made permanent for all Australians.

Full Disclosure
I run a telehealth psychology practice (PsychHelp) and I am also a passionate advocate for access to mental health services. My goal is to ensure people accessing telehealth psychology support throughout Australia can continue to do so in the future.