An article in the Nursing Review detailing the conclusion of the NSW Birth Trauma Inquiry includes AAPi's calls for 40 free psychology sessions for mothers after birth trauma and the raising of the rebate to $150.
AAPi member Alysha-Leigh Fameli said the fourth-leading cause of maternal death was suicide, and 10 sessions were “grossly insufficient” and not relevant to the “trauma experiences” mothers go through.
“It is unfeasible to expect that someone is going to come in and they’re going to go, ‘Here are all the things that have happened to me in my life and how they might be contributing to where I am now,’ and be able to wrap that up neatly in 10 sessions,” Ms Fameli said.
AAPi President Sahra O'Doherty said a single rebate across all psychologists would help.
“For clinical psychologists, it’s roughly $136 per rebated session. For registered psychologists – that includes all other endorsement areas and all of the other psychologists – the rebate is roughly $93. There’s about a $40 gap between that,” Ms O’Doherty said.
“I also just want to call attention to the perinatal or pregnancy counselling rebates that Medicare allows. Only three Medicare rebated sessions are able to be provided under that service, and that could be in addition to the mental healthcare plan of 10 sessions. However, the rebate for this is substantially lower – it’s only $63 per session.
“What the [association] is advocating for is one single rebate that actually exceeds the current rebated amount that clinical psychologists are currently able to provide. We’re advocating for a $150 rebate per session across the board for all psychologists who are qualified to provide services in this space.”
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