Mental health services activity monitoring quarterly data Print this page

This report is updated quarterly and was last updated in April 2024. It focuses on activity during the March quarter 2024. Data presented in this report are weekly (Monday to Sunday), and the March quarter 2024 covers weeks 1 to 13 of 2024 (Monday 1 January 2024 to Sunday 31 March 2024). The corresponding dates for previous quarters are included in the table below.

Jurisdictional data are derived independently of the national total, and totals may not match. The MBS and PBS national total includes services/prescriptions from external territories and those with missing patient characteristics. Crisis support organisation jurisdictional data are reported for answered contacts only, where state/territory information is available. See data source information for data quality information.

Population rates are calculated using Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) estimated resident populations for the relevant periods (ABS 2023). In this report, population rates are based on estimated resident populations at 30 June 2019 for 2019, 30 June 2020 for 2020, 30 June 2021 for 2021, 30 June 2022 for 2022, and 30 June 2023 for 2023 and 2024.

Medicare-subsidised mental health‑specific services are provided by psychiatrists, other medical practitioners (e.g. paediatricians), general practitioners (GPs), psychologists and other allied health professionals. The services described here are provided in a range of settings – including hospitals, consulting rooms, home visits, telephone and videoconferencing – as defined in the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS). 

The information in this report relates only to mental health services that are claimed under specific mental health care MBS item numbers. Therefore, the reported number of mental health-related services is unlikely to represent all patients who receive mental health care. The date is determined from the date the service was processed by Medicare, rather than the date the service was provided.

The drop in service numbers in late December to early January is a seasonal phenomenon which has been observed for the same period in previous years.

The percentage change compared to previous years is calculated from the rate per 100,000 population.

MBS mental health telehealth services

In March 2020, the Australian Government introduced additional services to the MBS to support provision of health care via telehealth (telephone and videoconference). Telehealth was used as an alternative to face-to-face healthcare services to provide protection for both patients and health-care providers during the COVID-19 pandemic. In December 2021, the Australian Government announced that telehealth will become a permanent feature of the MBS (DoH 2021).

Better Access

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 (DHAC 2022a). In response to the pandemic, the Australian Government doubled the number of sessions to 20 per year until 31 December 2022 and made these available to residents of aged care facilities for the first time. Access to these additional 10 sessions ceased from 31 December 2022 (DHAC 2022a). An independent evaluation of the Better Access initiative commenced in August 2021 and the evaluation report was released in December 2022 (University of Melbourne 2022).

Data source

This report presents AIHW analysis of MBS data sourced from the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care.

MBS data were extracted 19/04/2024 and are subjected to change.

Further information on mental health-related MBS items can be found in the Medicare-subsidised mental health-specific services section of the Mental Health Online Report.

The Australian Government subsidises the cost of some prescription medicines listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) and the Repatriation Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (RPBS). Statistics relating to PBS scripts dispensed may be subject to change due to late claims and adjustments, medicines supplied to public hospital inpatients and private scripts (i.e. pharmacy prescriptions not dispensed under the PBS) are not included.

Medications are reported in this section as 5 selected groups as classified in the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) Classification System: Antipsychotics (code N05A), Anxiolytics (code N05B), Hypnotics and sedatives (code N05C), Antidepressants (code N06A) and Psychostimulants, agents used for ADHD and nootropics (code N06B) – prescribed by all medical practitioners (that is, general practitioners (GPs), non-psychiatrist specialists and psychiatrists). This information does not include private prescriptions.

Data include PBS subsided (above-co-payment) and under-co-payment prescriptions.

The percentage change compared to previous years is calculated from the rate per 100,000 population.

PBS medication groups

The Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) codes are assigned to medicines based on the organs or systems they act on. Mental health specific medication act on the nervous system. The following table outlines the ATC code and its definition for each of the medication groups presented in this section which are relevant to mental health (WHO Collaborating Centre for Drug Statistics Methodology 2023):

PBS Continued Dispensing arrangements 

In response to the bushfire crisis in September 2019 and then the pandemic in March 2020, the Australian Government temporarily expanded existing Continued Dispensing arrangements through the Continued Dispensing (Emergency Measures) for most PBS and RPBS medicines supplied through community pharmacies. This was to support Australians’ continued access to PBS medicines in response to the pandemic (Services Australia 2021, DoH 2022). These arrangements were further expanded until 30 June 2022. This arrangement has allowed pharmacists to dispense up to a one-month supply of most mental health-related PBS medicines without a prescription if the medical need was deemed urgent and the medicine had been previously dispensed. Other changes to support people in isolation included a home delivery service of medicines and digital prescriptions sent from telehealth appointments directly to pharmacists (Services Australia 2021).

Data source

This report presents AIHW analysis of Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and Repatriation Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme data sourced from the Department of Health and Aged Care.

PBS data were extracted 13/05/2024 and are subjected to change.

Historical data may differ from previously published data due to data resupply.

Further information on mental health-related PBS items can be found in the Mental health-related prescriptions section of the Mental Health Online Report.

Crisis support organisations such as Lifeline, Kids Helpline and Beyond Blue are available to support Australians experiencing mental health issues.

This report presents AIHW analysis of data provided to AIHW by individual agreement with each service provider.

Note that direct comparisons between organisations are not meaningful due to differences in populations being serviced, service models, funding arrangements, workforce availability and information systems. Comparisons with previous years should be made with caution as historical trends may be impacted by a range of events, including planned awareness raising campaigns.

Jurisdictional data are derived independently of the national totals, and totals may not match. State/territory information is not available for all answered contacts, and data quality can vary over time. 

Lifeline

Contacts represent the number of callers who stayed on the line after listening to the announcements in the menu. Answered contacts represent the total number of calls answered by Lifeline crisis support workers.

The percentage change compared to previous years is calculated from the rate per 100,000 population.

Kids Helpline

Contacts represent the total number of contacts including phone, webchat and email. Answered contacts represent the total number of contacts answered by Kids Helpline through phone, webchat and email as well as outbound contacts. Answerable contact attempts exclude phone contact attempts abandoned during the privacy message, which cannot be skipped. This message was increased from 22 to 48 seconds in April 2020.

The reduction in Kids Helpline 2022 reported numbers for each state/territory, compared to prior years, requires further clarification to avoid spurious interpretation. Identifiable factors that have contributed to calculated reductions include;

• data for each state/territory is under-represented as an identifiable ‘state/territory’ could no longer be automatically captured following technology damage sustained during the Queensland floods. From March 2022 the state/territory data could only be captured if callers agreed to provide it, resulting in a reduction in reported contacts for each state/territory due to non-provision of this data. The number of non-counselling contacts (e.g. asking for a counsellor, silent calls, etc) has reduced, in-part due to improvements made to the KHL website and changes in help-seeking behaviour of clients.
• demand has decreased as impacts from the COVID pandemic settled in 2022.

There is a minor understatement of reported numbers as they do not include ‘outreach’ or ‘outbound’ contacts where counsellors are required to initiate contact. Kids Helpline migrated to Google Analytics 4 on 1 July 2023 which may result in variances in previous reporting. 

The percentage change compared to previous years is calculated from the rate per 100,000 population.

Beyond Blue

From 6 July 2020, the Australian Government funded Beyond Blue to create a dedicated Coronavirus Mental Wellbeing Support Service to provide free 24/7 mental health support during the pandemic. Contacts represent the total number of contacts from the normal line and COVID-19 line for all modalities including phone, webchat and email. Answered contacts represent the total number of calls answered by Beyond Blue from the normal line and COVID-19 line through phone, webchat and email.

Beyond Blue launched an enhanced service model on 28 February 2022 with a new service delivery partner. Changes to operational workflows and data entry compliance through the transition period have resulted in lower rates of capture of demographic data and answered contacts. These transition issues are expected to continue to stabilise and improve. Caution is advised when comparing recent data to data recorded prior to 28 February 2022. Beyond Blue migrated to Google Analytics 4 for reporting web activity on 1 July 2023 which may result in variances in previous reporting.

The percentage change compared to previous years is calculated from the rate per 100,000 population.

This report presents AIHW analysis of data provided by ReachOut and Head to Health.

Note that comparisons with previous years should be made with caution as historical trends may be impacted by a range of events, including planned awareness raising campaigns.

ReachOut

The average number of ReachOut website users per day represents the average daily volume for website activity. ReachOut experienced significantly increased website activity during the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Website activity has since returned to more normalised volumes, while ReachOut has increased focus and activity on reaching audiences beyond its website through channels not reflected in this reporting. ReachOut website activity fluctuates and is influenced by a range of factors, including seasonal decreases during school holiday periods, Google search changes and changes in external and internal marketing support. For instance, SnapChat's ‘Here For You’ campaign during late November and early December 2022 resulted in a spike in ReachOut website activity. ReachOut disaggregation by jurisdiction analyses website visits because user count is unavailable by jurisdiction.

ReachOut migrated to Google Analytics 4 on 1 August 2023 which may result in variances in previous reporting. The new platform applies thresholding to data with low numbers for privacy reasons, due to this ReachOut data for Northern territory (NT) has not been available since the September quarter (Q3) 2023. 

The percentage change compared to previous years is calculated from the rate per 100,000 population.

Head to Health

The Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care maintains the national Head to Health website (www.headtohealth.gov.au), which provides an online pathway to navigating mental health information, services, and treatment programs available across Australia. People experiencing mental health and wellbeing challenges can find and access services that meet their individual care needs and preferences. The average number of national Head to Health website users per day represents the average daily volume of website activity. The spike in March 2020 for Head to Health likely relates to the release of the Head to Health COVID-19 page on 20 March 2020 and a direct link from the Department’s website. On 31 March 2022, a trial version of the new digital mental health platform was released without promotion. On 29 May 2023, a variation of the trial experience was released to become the main Head to Health website for all users across Australia seeking to find information and access to a range of digital, phone and face-to-face service offerings to support their mental health and wellbeing needs. The media buy conducted by the Department of Health and Aged Care from 13 June 2023 to 30 June 2023 resulted in a spike in Head to Health website activity. Head to Health migrated to Google Analytics 4 on 1 July 2023 which may result in variances in previous reporting. Head to Health disaggregation by jurisdiction analyses website visits because user count is unavailable by jurisdiction. 

The 3 July 2023 to 1 October 2023 release of this report used an updated methodology for counting daily users. This resulted in an unanticipated overestimation of the users per day and average website users per day figures. The methodology has been updated to address these issues in this report, with updated figures provided from 1 July 2023 onward.

The percentage change compared to previous years is calculated from the rate per 100,000 population.

ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) (2023) National, state and territory population, June 2023, ABS, Canberra. Accessed 8 February 2024.

BOM (Bureau of Meteorology) (2022) Special Climate Statement 76 – Extreme rainfall and flooding in south-eastern Queensland and eastern New South Wales, Bureau of Meteorology. Accessed 15 June 2023.

DHAC (Department of Health and Aged Care) (2022a) MBS factsheet for Practitioners (Additional 10 MBS mental health sessions during COVID-19 under the Better Access Pandemic Support measure), Department of Health and Aged Care. Accessed 15 June 2023.

DHAC (2022b) Evaluation of the Better Access initiative – final report, Department of Health and Aged Care. Accessed 15 June 2023.

DHAC (2022c) Guaranteeing Medicare – Response to 2022 East Coast Floods, Department of Health and Aged Care. Accessed 15 June 2023.

DHAC (2022d) MBS Online - January 2023 News, Department of Health and Aged Care. Accessed 7 August 2023.

DHAC (2023a) MBS Online - Family and Carer Participation under the Better Access Initiative, Department of Health and Aged Care. Accessed 7 August 2023.

DHAC (2023b) Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme – PBS 60 Day Prescription, Department of Health and Aged Care. Accessed 26 October 2023.

DHAC (2024) Changes to psychiatry services from 1 March 2024, Department of Health and Aged Care. Accessed 10 May 2024

DoH (Department of Health) (2021) Better Access initiative, DoH. Accessed 15 June 2023.

NSW Premier (New South Wales Premier) (2021) Support measures for hospitals, community, NSW Government. Accessed 15 June 2023.

NSW Premier (2022) Update on COVID settings, NSW Government. Accessed 15 June 2023.

NSW Health (2021a) COVID-19 (Coronavirus) statistics, 6 December 2021, NSW Health, NSW Government. Accessed 15 June 2023.

NSW Health (2021b) COVID-19 (Coronavirus) statistics, 8 January 2022, NSW Health, NSW Government. Accessed 15 June 2023.

NSW Health (2022a) Changes to COVID-19 isolation period from Friday, NSW Health, NSW Government. Accessed 15 June 2023.

NSW Health (2022b) Mental wellbeing package for flood-impacted communities, NSW Health, NSW Government. Accessed 15 June 2023.

Prime Minister of Australia (PM Gov) (2022) Press Conference - Parliament House, Canberra, Prime Minister of Australia. Accessed 27 July 2023.

QLD Health (2022) Public Health Face Mask Requirements Direction (No. 5), Queensland Health, Queensland Government. Accessed 15 June 2023.

QLD Gov (QLD Government) (2022a) COVID restrictions ease further, Queensland Government. Accessed 15 June 2023.

QLD Gov (2022b) More support for Queensland's flood recovery, Queensland Government. Accessed 15 June 2023.

QRA (Queensland Reconstruction Authority) (2022) 2021-22 Southern Queensland Floods, Queensland Reconstruction Authority. Accessed 15 June 2023.

RBA (Reserve Bank of Australia) (2022) Cash Rate Target, RBA, Accessed 31 May 2024.

Services Australia (2021) Changes to patient services during the coronavirus (COVID-19) response, Services Australia. Viewed 15 June 2023.

University of Melbourne (2022) Evaluation of the Better Access initiative - final report, Department of Health and Aged Care. Accessed 15 June 2023.

Vic DHHS (Department of Health and Human Services) (2022) Coronavirus update for Victoria – 20 April 2022, Department of Health, Victoria State Government. Accessed 15 March 2024.

Vic Gov (Victorian Government) (2022) 2022 Victorian Flood Recovery, Victorian Government. Accessed 15 June 2023.

Vic Premier (Victorian Premier) (2021) Vaccine required to protect workers and Victoria, Victoria State Government. Accessed 15 June 2023.

Vic Premier (2022) Sensible changes to pandemic order, Victoria state Government. Accessed 15 June 2023.

WA Gov (2022a) Masks required indoors in Perth and Peel from 6pm tonight, Government of Western Australia. Accessed 15 June 2023.

WA Gov (2022b) Masks mandatory in Wheatbelt and Great Southern from 6pm tonight, Government of Western Australia. Accessed 15 June 2023.

WA Gov (2022c) Public health measures to ease with WA’s soft landing secured, Government of Western Australia. Accessed 15 June 2023.

WA Gov (2022d) COVID-19 isolation requirements to change COVID-19 (Coronavirus) statistics COVID-19 (Coronavirus) statistics, Government of Western Australia. Accessed 15 June 2023.

WHO Collaborating Centre for Drug Statistics Methodology (2023) International language for drug utilization research, WHO Collaborating Centre for Drug Statistics Methodology. Accessed 20 December 2023