The Hon Anthony Albanese MP
Prime Minister & Federal Member for Grayndler
Grayndler Electorate Office
334A Marrickville Rd,
Marrickville, NSW 2204

Dear Prime Minister Albanese,

We are a psychology private practice on Norton Street, Leichhardt NSW, right in the heart of your electorate. We currently have 3 psychologists in our practice and see over 60 people per week, every week. We delivered thousands (seriously, THOUSANDS) of Telehealth psychology sessions during the COVID-19 pandemic from our office and from our work-from-home offices in the Inner West.

We are deeply saddened and disappointed by the Federal Budget and the Government’s decision to discontinue the additional 10 Medicare rebated sessions for psychology and mental health services under the Better Access to Mental Health Care. We often see clients who have experienced trauma or have chronic mental health challenges such as depression or a diagnosis of a personality disorder, who benefit from frequent sessions, and have in some cases been in and out of therapy for years due to financial circumstances changing.

For the majority of our clients, Medicare rebates are the difference between being able to afford therapy and having to go without. For our community who took advantage of the additional 10 Medicare rebated sessions under the COVID-19 Extension to Better Access, they were able to see more progress, due to being able to attend therapy more regularly.

As members of the Australian Association of Psychologists Inc. (AAPi), we have been advocating alongside our colleagues to make the 20 sessions per year permanent, as Telehealth psychology sessions were made permanent by the previous government. We understand that the long-term effects of therapy can include increased participation in the workforce and therefore the economy, improved physical health and reducing the strain on hospital and emergency services, and improved relationships and communities.

Mindscape Psychology prides itself on being truly integrated into our Inner West community, and we have seen how beneficial our community has found those additional 10 sessions, and how concerned they are over these additional sessions being taken away from them.

We would encourage you, alongside the Minister for Health, to consider extending the current Medicare items for psychology and mental health sessions, and making 20 sessions permanent.

We would love to meet with you and discuss this with you further. For more information about us and our practice, please see our website: https://www.mindscapepsychology.com.au/

Kind regards,

Mindscape Psychology and Allied Health