A few days ago I came across an article in The Conversation which contained a couple of errors and points worth clarifying. I’d hoped to put them in the comment thread, but found that I’d missed the 72 hour window. Seems a bit short to cut people off after that, but in any case I […]
A tier-ful state of affairs
Next week the Australian Psychological Society (APS) will release a Green Paper for consultation with their members about the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) Review. The current Medicare system faces a number of problems. To name just a few: people in distress are required to accept the label of a mental disorder to access therapy, and […]
What does ‘suitably qualified practitioner’ mean?
If you’re reading this, then you have probably found my recent petition and want to argue about the definition of ‘suitably qualified practitioner’. Am I right? Well you’re in luck, because this page has been put together just for you to do exactly that on the comment thread below. But first, I want to say […]
One more try…
For over a decade now I have tried to convince politicians of the need to address mental health care. For my part, the main focus has been on basic public access to psychological care in the community. I’ve largely been motivated by an optimistic notion of democracy: that if we inform our politicians adequately then […]
Louisa’s story
Louisa had a difficult life but never showed it. Putting on a brave face was how she got by. Nobody knew about her abusive childhood and only those closest to her were trusted with why she really left her husband. Thinking about it made her break down, collapsing and weeping, for hours on end. Frankly, […]
FAQs
Earlier today we launched a petition to improve access to psychological care in Australia. If you’re on this page, you probably found your way to us from there. And you might have some questions or critical perspectives that you’d like to share. Before you do that though, let’s see whether our FAQ’s below might help […]
Mental health reforms neglect psychological care
[MEDIA RELEASE: Alliance for Better Access] Patients have expressed concern that reforms to the mental health system announced last week are being funded by cuts to psychological care. Last week’s mental health “shake-up” rips $350m of Medicare funding from the successful and popular Better Access to Mental Health Care program, through which the majority of […]
Are we spending enough on mental health care?
Last week the review from the National Mental Health Commission (NMHC) was finally released. The report was an important review, covering all mental health care services in Australia. Our Health Minister (actually, two of them) sat on the report, prompting us to make an FOI request to which the Government replied that we must pay a hefty sum […]