Mental health care goes beyond the GP and must be a national priority
1 October 2025
The peak body for all psychologists, the Australian Association of Psychologists Inc (AAPi), says Medicare rebates must be increased in light of findings by the RACGP that mental health is a primary reason for seeing GPs.
The RACGP’s Health of the Nation 2025 report revealed that 71% of GPs nominated mental health as the main reason for patient presentations.
AAPi Executive Director Tegan Carrison said the findings made it clear that mental health is a national priority and that equitable access to mental health care after the GP visit needed to be considered.
“While the GP is the first point of call for someone needing mental health support, psychologists are the experts in mental health and improvements must be made in increasing access to psychological care,” she said.
“We continue to call for psychology rebates to be lifted to $150 per session across the board to ensure Australians can access the care they need without delay or financial distress.”
Ms Carrison said RACGP’s finding that one in five people over the age of 15 who needed mental health care delayed or skipped treatment due to cost reinforced AAPi’s own research finding, that 87% of people said cost was a barrier to seeking psychological support.
“Antiquated Medicare rebates are locking people out of the care they need. We also have a provisional psychologist workforce of more than 8000 who are unable to provide rebates to their patients due to an outdated and rigid system.
“We fully support the RACGP’s call to boost Medicare rebates for longer GP consults, and it is clear it’s time for the Federal Government to consider psychological support as part of the solution.”
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.