Mental health
Mental health services activity monitoring quarterly data
This timeline covers key events within the last several years that have impacted mental health related service activity. It is not always possible to tease apart the effects of events that overlap each other or impact smaller regions and populations, however several highlighted events can be seen directly in the data. For example, the introduction of mental health-related telehealth items on 13 March 2020 and the subsequent peak of use from 13–19 April 2020 are distinct in the national telehealth MBS data.
National Lockdown
18 March 2020
The first identified case of COVID-19 (then known as novel coronavirus, nCoV-19) in Australia was reported on 25 January 2020 in Victoria with an additional 3 cases reported in NSW on the same day. Through February the Commonwealth and State and Territory governments announced a series of travel restrictions and advice as other countries experienced increasingly severe outbreaks of the virus. In March, governments announced a series of health, social and economic support packages together with a broad range of restrictions including mandatory mask wearing, restriction of movement and remote teaching and working where possible (PoA 2020a, PoA 2020b).
Introduction of COVID-19 mental health telehealth items
13 March 2020
The Australian Government introduced additional services to the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) to support provision of health care via telehealth (telephone and videoconference) to provide protection for both patients and healthcare providers and reduce the risk of community transmission of COVID-19. These MBS items include mental health services provided by GPs, psychiatrists, psychologists, and other allied health workers. In December 2021, the Australian Government announced that telehealth will become a permanent feature of the MBS (DoH 2021b).
PBS mental health-related prescriptions peak
16 March 2020 to 22 March 2020
Mental health-related PBS prescriptions experienced a weekly maximum of nearly 1,014,000 in the week beginning 16 March 2020, corresponding to the expansion of Continued Dispensing (Emergency Measures) and public messaging around obtaining necessary medication (Services Australia 2021, DoH 2022). This represents a 19% increase in the number of mental health-related prescriptions dispensed in the four weeks to 29 March 2020 compared with the four weeks to 31 March 2019.
Jurisdictional Lockdowns
2 August 2020 to 17 October 2021
The first lockdown occurred in Melbourne and surrounding regional areas between 2 August 2020 to 27 October 2020 in an attempt to reduce the number of COVID-19 cases following the start of Victoria’s second wave (Vic DHHS 2020a). Restrictions included curfews, a limit of how far from home a person could travel and on people gathering. On 27 October 2020, with no newly diagnosed cases in the state, the lockdown was eased (Vic DHHS 2020b).
There were subsequent lockdowns across New South Wales (NSW), Victoria (Vic), Queensland (Qld), Western Australia (WA), and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) to contain the spread of COVID-19 through 2020 and 2021. A series of brief snap lockdowns occurred between 1 January and 1 April 2021 in Vic (Vic DHHS 2021a), Qld (Qld Health 2021, Qld Gov 2021), and WA (WA Gov 2021). A series of more extended lockdowns occurred from July to October of 2021 in NSW (NSW Health 2021c, NSW Premier 2021b, NSW Premier 2021c), Vic (Vic DHHS 2021b, Vic DHHS 2021c, Vic DHHS 2021d, Vic DHHS 2021e, Vic DHHS 2021f, Vic DHHS 2021g, Vic DHHS 2021h, Vic DHHS 2021i), and the ACT (ACT Gov 2021).
Additional 10 mental health sessions
7 August 2020 to 31 December 2022
Better Access to Psychiatrists, Psychologists and General Practitioners (Better Access) is a subset of MBS mental health services. Services under the Better Access initiative are available for people with a clinically diagnosed mental disorder to receive up to 10 individual or 10 group mental health services per calendar year up to a maximum of 10 sessions (the department 2022a). In response to the pandemic, the Australian Government doubled the number of Medicare-subsidised psychological therapy sessions per year to 20, initially to 31 December 2021, then extended to 31 December 2022 (DoH 2021b). On 12 December 2022, the Australian Government announced the additional 10 sessions would not continue beyond 31 December 2022 (the department 2022b, the department 2022d).
Omicron variant restrictions
24 November 2021 to 16 January 2022
From December 2021 to January 2022 widespread restrictions were introduced due to outbreaks of the Omicron variant across the nation, including through the Christmas and New Year period. The restrictions stopped short of full lockdown but included measures such as mandatory mask wearing, and vaccination requirements in public places and across certain industries. The jurisdictions effected included Vic in November 2021 (Vic Premier 2021, Vic DHHS 2021j), Qld in December 2021 (QLD Health 2022), NSW in January 2022 (NSW Premier 2021a, NSW Health 2021a, NSW Health 2021b), and WA in January 2022 (WA Gov 2022a, WA Gov 2022b).
East coast flooding Qld, NSW, and Vic
22 February 2022 to 30 November 2022
From February 2022 widespread flooding affected the east coast of Australia with Qld, NSW, and Vic heavily impacted. Commonwealth and state governments provided additional support for mental health services in affected regions, including support for local mental health services and additional support for the mental health of children and young people (BOM 2022, QRA 2022, the department 2022c, NSW Health 2022b, QLD Gov 2022b).
Vaccination rates began to meet state targets, restrictions eased
1 March 2022 to 9 September 2022
From February 2022 restrictions were progressively eased across Australia as vaccination rates began to meet state targets. In April NSW restrictions were eased as booster uptake passed 50% and hospitalisation and ICU rates decreased (NSW premier 2022). At the same time restrictions were eased in Vic as two-thirds of Victorians aged 16 years and over had received three doses of the COVID-19 vaccine (Vic DHHS 2022), in Qld as 90% of Queenslanders aged 12 and over were fully vaccinated (QLD Gov 2022a) and in WA as the booster uptake reached over 80% (WA Gov 2022c). September 2022 also marked another major easing of restrictions as in most states and territories the self-isolation period was reduced from 7 to 5 days and mask wearing requirements were reduced (NSW Health 2022a, Vic Premier 2022, Qld Gov 2022a, WA Gov 2022d).
Inflation and interest rate rises
1 March 2022
Between March 2022 to March 2023, the Consumer Price Index in Australia rose by 7% for non-discretionary items (ABS 2023). The largest price rises were observed in medical and hospital services, tertiary education, gas and other household fuels, and domestic holiday travel and accommodation. Data from the ANU COVID-19 Monitoring Survey Program found in August 2023, 30% of Australians reported finding it difficult or very difficult to live on their present income (Biddle and Gray 2023). The cost-of-living and personal debt was also reported to be one of the largest contributors to suicide risk in Australia (Suicide Prevention Australia 2023).
Mandatory isolation period ends
14 October 2022
From October 2022 self-isolation at home was no longer mandatory if individuals tested positive for COVID-19 in all states and territories in Australia (PM Gov 2022). Those who work in high-risk settings such as health and aged care were still required to isolate if they tested positive. The Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment also ceased during this time, with the exception of individuals who work in high-risk settings who required particular support: aged care, health care and disability care (PM Gov 2022).
Additional 10 mental health sessions cease
1 January 2023
Additional changes were made to MBS in 2023 as Australia transitioned into the next phase of living with the COVID-19 virus. The temporary expansion of the Better Access initiative, which allowed Australians to access 10 additional individual Medicare-subsidised psychological therapy sessions (i.e. 11–20) ceased on 1 January 2023 (the department 2022e). Patients no longer needed a new referral to access Better Access sessions from 1 January 2023.
Addition of MBS items under Better Access initiative
1 March 2023
Family and carer participation MBS items were introduced under the Better Access initiative from 1 March 2023. These items enable providers to deliver up to two Medicare-subsidised services per calendar year to individuals other than the patient, recognising the important role that family members and carers play in supporting people with mental illness (the department 2023a). Additionally, case conferencing items were introduced on 1 July 2023 to allow eligible providers to organise and coordinate or participate in case conferences to discuss a patient’s mental health care.
60-day prescriptions of PBS medicines
1 September
From 1 Sept (the department 2023b). This applies to more than 300 common medicines listed on the PBS and will be implemented in 3 stages over 12 months. Once implemented on 1 September 2023, at least 6 million Australians will halve their medication costs and need fewer visits to the GP and pharmacist to get the medication they require (the department 2023b).
Medicare-subsidised services and mental health prescriptions
Medicare-subsidised services are provided by psychiatrists, general practitioners (GPs), psychologists and other allied health professionals. These services are provided in a range of settings – for example, hospitals, consulting rooms, home visits, telephone and videoconferencing – as defined in the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS). Information is limited to Medicare-subsidised services only and covers the last 4 years of data up to the end of the 2023 September quarter. For further information on the long term analysis of MBS data please refer to the Medicare-subsidised services section.
PBS mental health-related prescriptions
The Australian Government subsidises the cost of prescription medicines through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). PBS mental health-related prescriptions reported in this section include medications classified as Antidepressants (N06A); Antipsychotics (N05A); Anxiolytics (N05B); Hypnotics and sedatives (N05C); and Psychostimulants, agents used for ADHD and nootropics (N06B). Data include PBS subsidised (above-co-payment) and under-co-payment prescriptions.
Medicare-subsidised services and mental health prescriptions
Visualisation showing the number of Medicare-subsidised services and mental health prescriptions processed nationally by week and quarter from January 2020 to October 2023. The rate of MBS mental health services processed per 100,000 population in the September quarter 2023 (Q3) is lower than the same quarter in 2022 (5% change). 20% of Medicare-subsidised mental health‑specific services processed in the September quarter 2023 (Q3) were delivered by telehealth, this compares with 25% and 34% delivered via telehealth during the same quarter in 2022 and 2021, respectively. The rate of PBS mental health-related prescriptions processed per 100,000 population in the September quarter 2023 (Q3) is slightly higher (3%) than the same quarter in 2022. Similar trends were observed for all states and territories.
Crisis support organisations, National
Crisis support organisations such as Lifeline, Kids Helpline and Beyond Blue are available to support Australians experiencing mental health issues. Activity for these organisations is reported in this section as contacts, representing service demand, and answered contacts, representing the total number of contacts answered by each organisation.
- Lifeline data are for phone calls.
- Kids Helpline data include phone, webchat and email contacts.
- Beyond Blue data include phone, webchat and email contacts. Data from July 2020 to December 2022 includes contacts and answered contacts for both the Beyond Blue main service and dedicated COVID-19 service
Use filter below to view data as contacts or answered contacts.
Crisis support organisations, States and Territories
Crisis support organisations such as Lifeline, Kids Helpline and Beyond Blue are available to support Australians experiencing mental health issues. In this section answered contacts data are disaggregated by state/territory, representing the total number of contacts answered by each organisation where state/territory information is available.
- Lifeline data are for phone calls.
- Kids Helpline data include phone, webchat and email.
- Beyond Blue data include phone, webchat and email contacts. Data from July 2020 to December 2022 includes contacts and answered contacts for both the Beyond Blue main service and dedicated COVID-19 service.
Online mental health resources and support, National
For ReachOut and Head to Health, the average number of website users per day represents the average daily volume for website activity.
Online mental health resources and support, States and territories
ReachOut weekly website visits represents the total weekly volume for ReachOut website activity. ReachOut disaggregation by jurisdiction analyses website visits because user count is unavailable by jurisdiction.
Mental health crisis support and information organisations
Visualisation showing the activity of mental health crisis support and information organisations nationally by week and quarter from January 2020 to October 2023. The rate of contacts made to Lifeline per 100,000 population in the September quarter 2023 (Q3) was higher than the same quarter in 2022 (2% change). The rate of contacts made to Kids Helpline and Beyond Blue per 100,000 population in the September quarter 2023 (Q3) were lower than the same quarter in 2022 (8% and 5% change respectively). Similar trends for contacts made to Kids Helpline were observed for all states and territories. The average rate of ReachOut and Head to Health website user nationally per 100,000 population in the September quarter 2023 (Q3) was higher than the same quarter in 2022 (19% and 22% change respectively).
