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New patient data shows mental health care remains inaccessible 

24 November 2025  

The latest Patient Experiences 2024–25 ABS data spotlights persistent and unacceptable barriers to mental health care across Australia, with psychologists remaining one of the most difficult services to access despite high levels of community need.

Peak body for all psychologists, the Australian Association of Psychologists, said the new figures reinforce what psychologists see daily: persistent demand but too many who cannot afford or access timely mental health support.

AAPi Executive Director, Tegan Carrison, said the numbers showed that cost and access remain major structural barriers. 

"Psychologists are providing vital mental health care to their communities, but the system is not supporting Australians to get help when they need it,” she said.

The data showed that in 2024-25, 17.3% of Australians saw a health professional for their mental health, consistent with the previous year. This included:

  • 8.5% seeing a psychologist
  • 12.5% seeing a GP
  • 3.5% seeing a psychiatrist
  • 2.3% seeing another mental health professional.

“Of those who sought care, 26% used telehealth, again showing the ongoing importance of flexible access options,” Ms Carrison said. 

Younger people were far more likely to seek support, with 21.6% of those aged 25-34 seeing a mental health professional compared with 8.3% of people aged 65+. Women also consistently accessed care at higher rates than men.

“Of the 18.9% of Australians who said they needed mental health care, over one-third (34.4%) delayed or did not get help when they needed it. 

“Alarmingly:

  • 38.8% delayed or did not see a psychologist, despite needing to
  • 25.3% avoided seeing a psychologist due to cost
  • Cost barriers were highest for people aged 25–34
  • Women were more likely than men to delay care due to cost
  • People in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas were far more impacted.

“The fact that one in four people who needed a psychologist could not afford to see one is a direct consequence of a Medicare rebate that covers less than half the cost of providing care,” Ms Carrison said.

“With almost 78% of people with a mental health condition needing professional care, the continued delays and cost barriers are unacceptable.”

AAPi is calling for:

  • An immediate increase to the Medicare rebate for psychology, indexed correctly and reflective of the true cost of care
  • Ending the two-tier system, which limits access and exacerbates inequity
  • Better support for rural, regional and disadvantaged communities, where the gap is greatest
  • Funding models that reflect the real level of need, not the current capped and outdated structures. 

“These latest figures show no meaningful improvement. Without reform, Australians will keep delaying care, getting sicker, and presenting later with more complex needs. Psychologists want to help, but the system must allow people to access care when they need it.”

Ms Carrison said AAPi stood ready to work with all levels of government to ensure every Australian can access high-quality, affordable psychological care - not just those who can pay out-of-pocket expenses. 

ENDS

Download the pdf. 

About AAPi 

AAPi is a not-for-profit peak body for psychologists that aims to preserve the rich diversity of psychological practice in Australia. Formed in 2010 by a group of passionate grassroots psychologists, AAPi’s primary goal is to address inequality in the profession and represent all psychologists and their clients equally to government and funding bodies. Its primary mission is to lobby for equitable access for the Australian public to professional psychological services such as Medicare Better Access Scheme and the National Disability Insurance Scheme.