Dear Supporters,

In my update today I let our supporters know that this week’s Federal Budget provided no indication that the 20 Medicare funded psychology sessions scheme will be extended in the new year. It is deeply concerning that we have not been able to secure an ongoing commitment from the Federal Government to fund these much-needed sessions, even when they have described their budget as a “Wellbeing Budget”. I remain hopeful that there is some support for this from government, but increasing the awareness of this urgent issue is clearly a critical step in securing this commitment to adequate access to psychological support.   

I would ask that everyone consider taking a few minutes out of your busy day to send an email out to your local Federal MP, or contact them on Twitter or Facebook.

Some quick tips:

To find out who your local Federal MP is and their email, Twitter or Facebook contact details, enter your postcode at the bottom of this web page: https://www.aph.gov.au/senators_and_members/members
An email to an MP should start as follows: Dear ‘Mr/ Mrs/Ms/Dr First Name Last Name MP’.
Include your home suburb, or state what electoral area you live in, as MPs prioritise responding to people living in their constituency.
 

You may also wish to email directly or copy in the Health Minister and Assistant Health Minister  

The Hon. Mark Butler, Health Ministerminister.butler@health.gov.au  - addressed to “Dear Minister Butler”
The Hon. Emma McBride, Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention assistant.minister.mcbride@health.gov.au
addressed to “Dear Minster McBride”
 

I have provided some suggested content below my signature. The subject line I will be using is: “Medicare funded access to 20 psychology sessions must be made permanent”

Please feel free to alter the subject or content to reflect your perspective or experience.

Please forward this to any friends, family or colleagues who care about mental health. This is an urgent issue, and I fear that without a groundswell of support for this permanent change we will not get this over the line.

Thank you in advance. Your support inspires me!

Hayley

Dear   

As a local constituent, I want to bring to your attention the urgent need for a permanent increase in the number of Medicare-funded psychology sessions to 20 per year.  For many years, the number of psychology sessions that Australians could access under Medicare per calendar year was capped at 10. This arbitrary limit had no regard for the person’s circumstances or treatment needs. As part of the Federal Government’s COVID-19 initiative, the number of psychology sessions a person can access via Medicare in a calendar year was increased to 20. Many Australians, young and old, have benefited greatly from this initiative.

Currently these 10 additional psychology sessions are only available until the end of 2022.  We can’t return to the old system where after 10 sessions, people had no choice but to pay privately or discontinue treatment. The Federal Government needs to understand how much the community values access to adequate psychological help for those in need. A change.org petition established by a young person who has directly benefitted from access to psychological care has received over 22,000 signatures and has drawn many impassioned comments from consumers, parents, and professionals (https://www.change.org/p/make-medicare-funded-access-to-20-psychology-sessions-permanent)  

The Federal Budget released this week provided no indication that the 20 Medicare-funded psychology sessions scheme will be extended in the new year. This is a big blow to mental health consumers and appears to go against the very purpose of a “Wellbeing Budget”. I know all hope isn’t lost and that Government still has time to do the right thing. However, the anxiety of waiting to see what the Government decides is having a huge impact on the community.

I look forward to hearing from you regarding this urgent issue impacting on the communities you serve.

Yours sincerely,