News Corp has covered the closure of the last remaining community psychology course in the country, detailing the impact of the imminent closing down of the masters degree at Victoria University.
Student Heather Lewis, who described the closure as heartbreaking, said: "We are still unsure about keeping that speciality alive and it’s not the first speciality to come under the knife when it comes to prioritising clinical psychology over others.”
The article said the decision comes at a time that the Medicare rebate system for psychologists is under scrutiny with calls for changes to make it more accessible to Australians.
"The Australian Association of Psychologists wants a change to the “two tier” Medicare billing for psychologists.
"The two-tier system suggests clinical psychologists, which make up 30 per cent of the profession, should attract a higher level of Medicare funding than the remaining 70 per cent who are registered psychologists or hold endorsement in another area of practice, according to the Association.
"Forcing two thirds of psychologists to offer lower rebates leaves a huge gap in services for the most vulnerable Australians in this time of great need, the Association argued."
AAPi Executive Director Tegan Carrison said community psychologists play a crucial role in addressing systemic issues and promoting mental health at a community level.
"This decision undermines our efforts to build resilient and thriving communities. This is a time we need more community psychologists, not less,” she said.
“Community psychologists work with many underserved and marginalised groups and community psychology courses provide graduates with the skills to address some of our most pressing community issues.”
Read the full article here.