Government must fix Medicare rebate to help Ramsay Health patients
25 July 2025
MEDIA RELEASE
Ramsay Health’s closure of psychology clinics across Australia will be catastrophic for patients unless the Medicare rebate is finally fixed, according to the peak body for psychologists.
The Australian Association of Psychologists says yesterday’s confirmed closure of 17 Ramsay Health psychology clinics across the nation will result in more than 100 psychologists losing their jobs, leaving thousands of clients without vital help by September.
Australian Association of Psychologists President Sahra O’Doherty is supporting members left without work. She warned Ramsay Health’s decision would force more patients to join already crowded private wait lists, rely on stretched public hospitals or abandon their care plans.
“The odds of these thousands of patients finding an alternative psychologist they can either access or afford before September is frankly, nil,” Ms O’Doherty said.
“There are lots of local psychology practices that are able to step up, but we need the government to urgently fix the cost barrier.”
Ms O’Doherty explained an antiquated loophole in the Medicare rebate meant only the small portion of those registered as clinical psychologists could currently offer patients the full Medicare rebate of $145.25, regardless of experience. The vast majority of services were still only able to offer patients a maximum rebate of $98.95.
"We want Minister Mark Butler to pick up the phone to his policy team and say we have to increase the rebate for all psychology sessions to a realistic amount of $150 right now if we are going to avoid this mental health car crash.
“Fixing the rebate would dramatically improve affordability and access for the thousands of Australians who have been left high and dry by the closure of Ramsay Health, or the many more who have to choose between their psychology appointments and food on the table.”
Ramsay Health’s announcement follows the National Mental Health Commission's 2024 Report Card which shows that more than one in five Australians have delayed seeing a mental health professional due to cost.
“Every day that a patient that doesn’t receive timely care, the risk increases that they will deteriorate and need more complex interventions - costing state health systems millions over the long run,” Ms O’Doherty said.
“Walk-in centres are for short term crisis interventions, not for Ramsay’s patients. How many thousands of Australians need to be on their knees before the federal government takes action to fix the rebate and make affordable, equitable mental health care its priority?”
EXPLANATION OF TERMS
*All psychologists in the country have completed at least six years of training and education before qualifying as a registered psychologist. Research** demonstrates that both registered psychologists and clinical psychologists achieve beneficial outcomes. There is simply no evidence to warrant a difference in funding or endorsement.
**1 Pirkis, Ftanou, Williamson, Machlin, Spittal & Bassilios (2011a). Australia's Better Access initiative: An evaluation. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 45:726–739
About the
About the Australian Association of Psychologists Inc (AAPi)
The AAPi is a not-for-profit peak body for all psychologists that aims to preserve the rich diversity of psychological practice in Australia. Formed in 2010 by a group of passionate grassroots psychologists, the 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.
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