This proposal would broaden access to mental health care services and consists of 3 components.
Component 1 would increase the Better Access Initiative to unlimited psychology or psychiatric therapy sessions and raise the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) rebates for patients with a diagnosed mental illness. Within any 12-month period, patients would be eligible for unlimited sessions. Patients would need a referral from their general practitioner (GP) every 10 treatment sessions under their mental health treatment plan.
- Registered psychologists and psychiatrists would need to bulk-bill their services.
- For psychiatric therapy sessions, rebates for MBS items 291, 296, 297 and 299 would be raised to 100% of the schedule fees (currently 85%).
- For psychology therapy sessions, rebates for MBS items 80000, 80005, 80010, 80015 would be increased to match the 2021-22 rates recommended by the Australian Psychology Society1 .
Component 2 would implement a national rollout of an Individual Placement and Support (IPS) program that is funded to meet demand.
- Any person who is currently with mental illness and not employed would be eligible. Participants would be required to fulfil the same mutual obligation requirements for income support payments.
- Program costs would be indexed by average weekly earnings.
Component 3 would increase the number of mental health peer workers by 1,000 workers to undertake a national rollout of a peer workforce.
- Peer workers would generally be people with lived experience of mental illness who provide support to others undergoing recovery.
The proposal would take effect from 1 July 2022.