From the 1st of November next, there will be a major expansion in the Medicare rebate system to help in the treatment of mental illnesses.
As from the beginning of next month, Medicare rebates will be available to patients whose GP provides early intervention, assessment and management in relation to mental disorders.
Under the new rules, people referred to mental health professionals by their GP for individual and group therapy sessions and patients seeing psychiatrists for the first time will also be eligible for Medicare rebates.
To be launched later today, this new plan is a major reshaping of the way we provide treatment for mental health problems in Australia.
This expansion of Medicare will cost $538 million over five years. It is part of the Commonwealth's new $1.9 billion commitment to improving the treatment of mental illness in our country.
Today commences Mental Health Week - a time to remember that mental illness can strike all age groups. In any six-month period more than 500,000 children and teenagers will experience some kind of mental illness.
Australian health professionals are amongst the best in the world. The major enhancement of Medicare that I will announce later today will assist them to do even more in helping their fellow Australians with a mental disorder.