Medicare-subsidised mental health-specific services

In 2021–22, almost 2.8 million people (11% of Australians) accessed 13.6 million Medicare-subsidised mental health-specific services.

49% of services were provided by psychologists, 27% by GPs and 19% by psychiatrists in 2021–22.

31% of services were delivered via telehealth in 2021–22.

In 2021–22, the number of people receiving services and the number of services delivered was highest in the July–September and lowest in the January–March.

Medicare-subsidised mental health‑specific services are delivered by psychiatrists, general practitioners (GPs), psychologists and other allied health professionals. These services are delivered in a range of settings—for example, hospitals, consulting rooms, home visits, and telehealth—as defined in the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS). Information is provided on both patient and service provider characteristics and is limited to Medicare-subsidised services only. These data relate only to services claimed under specific mental health care MBS item numbers. Therefore, the reported number of patients is unlikely to represent all patients who receive mental health care as it is unclear how many people receive GP mental health-related care that is billed as a consultation against, for example, a general MBS item number. For further information on the MBS data, refer to the data source section.

During 2021–22, the Medicare-subsidised mental health-specific service rate was 529 services per 1,000 population in Australia with the highest rate provided by General practitioners (143).

Spotlight data: Has the provision of Medicare-subsidised mental health-specific services increased over the past 10 years?

Has the provision of Medicare-subsidised mental health-specific services increased over the past 10 years?

Infographic containing an overview of medicare-subsidised mental health-related services over time that include number and rates of patients and services by provider type.

Source: Medicare-subsidised mental health-related services 2021–22 tables: Table MBS.11

Who received Medicare-subsidised mental health-specific services?

In 2021–22, 2.8 million Australians (11% of the population) received Medicare-subsidised mental health-specific services with Victoria having the highest rate (12%) and the Northern Territory the lowest (6%).

People aged 18–24 years were most likely to receive services (18% of people aged 18–24 years) and females had a higher rate (13%) compared with males (8%) (Figure MBS.1). The rate of receiving services decreased with increasing remoteness. In Major cities and Inner regional areas the rate was 11% decreasing to 3% in Very remote areas. People living in the least disadvantaged SEIFA quintile were the most likely to receive services (15%) decreasing to 8% for people in the most disadvantaged quintile.

Figure MBS.1: Rate (per 100 population) of people receiving Medicare-subsidised mental health-specific services, by demographic characteristics, 2021–22

Figure MBS.1: Demographic characteristics of people receiving Medicare-subsidised mental health-specific services, 2021–22

Horizontal bar chart showing the percentage of the population who received Medicare-subsidised mental health-specific services during 2021–22, by key demographics. In 2021–22, the service users increased with age from 1% of people aged 0–4 years, to 18% of patients aged 18–24 years. It  then gradually decreases for older age groups from 12% for 45–54 years to 3% for those aged and 85 years and over. A greater proportion of the female population (13%) received services compared with males (8%). For remoteness area, the same proportion of people living in Major cities and Inner regional areas (11%) received services while services received decreased as remoteness increased: Outer regional (9%), Remote (6%) and Very remote (3%). Refer to Table MBS.2.

Source: Medicare-subsidised mental health-related services 2021–22 tables: Table MBS.2

In 2021–22, 9% of the Australian population received services from a General practitioner; 5% for psychology services; 2% from a Psychiatrist; and <1% received services from Other allied health professionals. Note that an individual may receive services from more than one provider type. The General practitioners section provides further information about mental health-related GP care.

Over time

The number of people receiving services increased from 1.6 million in 2011–12 (or 7% of the population) to 2.8 million in 2021–22 (11% of the population). Increases were seen for all provider types, with the greatest increase occurring for General practitioners (from 6% to 9%). The proportion of Australians accessing Clinical psychologist services increased from 1% in 2011–12 to 2% in 2021–22 in line with those receiving Psychiatrist MBS services (Figure MBS.2).

Figure MBS.2: Percentage of Australian population receiving Medicare-subsidised mental health-specific services, by provider type, 2011–12 to 2021–22

Figure MBS.2: Percentage of Australian population receiving Medicare-subsidied mental health-specific services, by provider type, 2011–12 to 2021–22

Line chart showing the percentage of Australians receiving Medicare-subsidised mental health services by provider from 2011–12 to 2021–22. The percentage of Australians receiving services from psychiatrists increased from 1% in 2011–12 to 2% in 2021–22, GPs increased from 5% to 9%, clinical psychologists 1% to 2%, other psychologists 2% to 3%, and other allied health providers 0% to 1%. The percentage of Australians receiving services from all providers increased from 7% in 2011–12 to 11% in 2021–22. Refer to Table MBS.4.

Source: Medicare-subsidised mental health-related services 2021–22 tables: Table MBS.4

Mental health-specific services

How many Medicare-subsidised mental-health services were provided?

There were 13.6 million Medicare-subsidised mental health-specific services provided to 2.8 million Australians in 2021–22. Victoria had the highest rate  (613 services per 1,000 population) and the national rate was 529 (Figure MBS.3).

Figure MBS.3: Rate (per 1,000 population) of Medicare-subsidised mental health-specific services, by state and territory, 2021–22

Figure MBS.3: Rate (per 1,000 population) of Medicare-subsidised mental health-specific services, by state and territory, 2021–22

Vertical bar chart showing the Medicare-subsidised mental health-specific service rate (per 1,000 population), by states and territories in 2021–22. Victoria (613) and Queensland (533) had the highest rate of services per 1,000 population, greater than the national rate (529). In the other states and territories, New South Wales had 510 services per 1,000 population, followed by Western Australia (483), Tasmania (445), the Australian Capital Territory (471), South Australia (457), and the Northern Territory (191). Refer to Table MBS.12.

Source: Medicare-subsidised mental health-related services 2021–22 tables: Table MBS.12

In 2021–22, the 18–24 age group had the highest rate of service use (91 services per 100 population), and females (70) had a higher rate of service use than males (36). People living in Major cities had the highest rate of service use (58) with rates decreasing with increasing remoteness. Similarly, people in the least disadvantaged SEIFA quantile had the highest rate of service use (85) with rates decreasing with increasing disadvantage (Figure MBS.4).

Figure MBS.4: Rate (per 100 population) of Medicare-subsidised mental health-specific services, by demographic group, 2021–22

Figure MBS.4: Rate (per 100 population) of Medicare-subsidised mental health-specific services, by demographic group, 2021–22

Horizontal bar chart showing the rates of Medicare-subsidised mental health services per 100 population by key demographics in 2021–22. Service use in 2021–22 was lowest among patients aged 0–4 years (2 services), and increased with age with the  highest for those aged 18–24 years (91), then gradually decreased for older age groups: 25–34 years (81), 35–44 years (69); 45–54 years (59), 55–64 years (47), 65–74 years (30), 75–84 years (20), and 85 years over (11). By sex, females accessed a greater number of services than males (70 compared with 36 respectively). For remoteness area, the highest service rate was seen in Major cities (58 per 100 population) with service rates decreasing as remoteness increased: Inner regional (47), Outer regional (33), Remote (19) and Very remote (10). Refer to Table MBS.10.

Source: Medicare-subsidised mental health-related services 2021–22 tables: Table MBS.10

Average number of services per patient

In 2021–22 the average number of services per patient was 5 nationally. This was consistent across all states and territories except for the Northern Territory which had the lowest number of services per patient at 3. People aged 12–74 years had the highest average number of services per patient (5) and females (5) had more services per patient than males (4).

Over time

The total number of Medicare-subsidised mental health-specific services increased from 7.9 million in 2011–12 to 13.6 million in 2021–22; an increase from 352 services per 1,000 population to 529 (Figure MBS.5). This was mainly due to increases in services provided by GPs, followed psychologists. From 2011–12 to 2021–22 there was a relatively small increase in the rate of these services delivered by psychiatrists. From March 2020 new MBS items were added in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including an increase in the number of Better Access services available and a range of telehealth items were added across all provider types (DoH 2020).

Figure MBS.5: Rate (per 1,000 population) of Medicare-subsidised mental health-specific services, by provider type, 2011–12 to 2021–22

Figure MBS.5: Rate (per 1,000 population) of Medicare-subsidised mental health-specific services, by provider type, 2011–12 to 2021–22

Vertical bar chart showing the number of services per 1,000 population for Medicare-subsidised mental health-specific services by provider from 2011–12 to 2021–22. The number of services provided by psychiatrists increased from 91 in 2011–12 to 103 in 2021–22, GPs increased from 96 to 143, clinical psychologists 57 to 118, other psychologists 95 to 141 and other allied health professionals 10 to 24. Refer to Table MBS.12.

Source: Medicare-subsidised mental health-related services 2021–22 tables: Table MBS.12

How many services were provided via telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic

During the course of the pandemic the Australian Government introduced changes to the MBS to support the provision of care via telehealth, to help reduce the risk of community transmission of COVID-19 and provide protection for both patients and health care providers. New items added include telehealth mental health services provided by GPs, psychiatrists, psychologists and other allied health workers.

Almost 1 in 3 services (4.2 million, 31%) were provided via telehealth (phone or video) in 2021–22. Psychiatrists and psychologists provided a higher proportion of Medicare-subsidised mental health-specific services via telehealth than other types of providers (37% and 36% respectively), and GPs provided the lowest proportion (18%). More detail about the use of telehealth services during the pandemic, can be found in the Mental health services activity monitoring quarterly data.

Use of services during the COVID-19 pandemic

Analyses of the Medicare-subsidised mental health-specific services by quarter have been included to show seasonal variations in service use, and provide more insight into the impact of events such as the pandemic. These include service and person counts reported by provider type, age group and sex.

From 2012–13 to 2019–20 the number of Medicare-subsidised mental health-specific services being delivered was consistently highest in the April–June period and lowest in the October–December period (Refer to table MBS.22 for detail). Note that reduced service usage is typical during public holidays and particularly over the Christmas/New Year period.

In 2019–20, an unseasonably low number of people used services in April–June (1.2 million), likely due to the impact of the pandemic lockdown periods. However, a relatively high number of services were still used (3.2 million), meaning more services were used per person in April–June (2.7) than in other quarters (2.4).

Providers show different patterns of activity over the year. Psychologists provide services to a relatively stable number of patients, while GPs and psychiatrists showed more seasonal variations. 

In 2020–21, the number of people who used services was consistent with the pattern for previous years, while in 2021–22, the number of people who used services was almost 1.3 million in the April–June quarter with almost 3.6 million services used. This represents an increase over 2019–20 but a decrease from 2020–21.

In 2020–21 the number of Medicare-subsidised mental health-specific services peaked in the July–September period (almost 3.6 million). The number of services was lower in January–March for all services apart from GPs (0.6 million for psychiatrists, 0.7 million for clinical psychologists, 0.9 million for other psychologists and 0.1 million for other allied health providers). For GPs the number of services was lowest in April–June (almost 1 million).

The number of services peaked in the July–September period at almost 3.7 million in 2021–22. The number of services was lower in January–March for all services apart from GPs (0.6 million for psychiatrists, 0.7 million for clinical psychologists, 0.8 million for other psychologists and 0.1 million for other allied health providers). For GPs the number of patients accessing services was lowest in April–June (almost 0.9 million).

Key concepts

Key concept Description
Medicare-subsidised general practitioner (GP) services Medicare-subsidised general practitioner (GP) services are services provided by medical practitioners who are vocationally registered under Section 3F of the Health Insurance Act 1973, or are Fellows of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners or Fellows of the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine and meet the requirements for the relevant Quality Assurance and Continuing Medical Education program or trainees for vocational registration (DoH 2022: 21). GP mental health services include services provided by medical practitioners, including general practitioners, but excluding psychiatrists (DoH 2019: 107–166, 190, 218, 276–278, 456, 782, 1219–1223).
Medicare-subsidised other allied mental health services Medicare-subsidised other allied mental health services are services provided by other allied mental health professionals such as occupational therapists, social workers and mental health nurses. These services cover focused psychological strategies—allied mental health (occupational therapist and social worker items) and enhanced primary care—allied health (mental health worker item). Mental health workers include Aboriginal health workers, mental health nurses, occupational therapists and some social workers as well as psychologists. Although some psychologists are covered by this item they cannot be readily separated from the other mental health workers covered, so this item is counted under the heading of other allied mental health services. The data source section lists these item groups and MBS item numbers. For Medicare payments to be made on these items the provider (occupational therapist, social worker or other appropriate provider) must be registered with Medicare Australia as meeting the credentialing requirements for provision of the service (DoH 2019: 1225–1231, 1294–1299, 1314–1315).
Medicare‑subsidised psychiatrist services Medicare-subsidised psychiatrist services are services provided by a psychiatrist (or, for electroconvulsive therapy, by either a psychiatrist or another medical practitioner together with an anaesthetist) on a fee-for-service basis that are partially or fully funded under the Australian Government’s Medicare program. These services cover patient attendances (or consultations) provided in different settings as well as services such as group psychotherapy, telepsychiatry, case conferences and electroconvulsive therapy. These item groups along with the relevant MBS item numbers are listed in the data source section. Note that for items in the range 291 to 370 (MBS Group A8) and 855 to 866 (Case conference—consultant psychiatrist) only medical practitioners who are recognised as psychiatrists for the purposes of the Health Insurance Act 1973 are eligible to provide services attracting an MBS subsidy (DoH 2019: 69–72, 117–119, 227–237, 260–261, 323, 456). 
Medicare-subsidised psychologist services

Medicare-subsidised psychologist services are services provided by psychologists that are rebatable by Medicare through psychological therapy services, focussed psychological strategies and enhanced primary care items. The data source section lists these item groups with the relevant MBS item numbers. For these items to be eligible for Medicare rebates, the provider must meet the following eligibility requirements and be registered with Medicare Australia. 

Medicare rebates for psychological therapy services are only available for services provided by clinical psychologists who are fully registered in the relevant jurisdiction and are members of, or eligible for membership with, the Australian Psychological Society’s College of Clinical Psychologists. Clinical membership is only available for registered psychologists who have completed the standard 4 years of study in psychology and attained an accredited doctorate degree in clinical psychology or master’s degree in clinical psychology with 1 year of supervised post-masters clinical psychology experience. 

Medicare rebates for focused psychological strategies and enhanced primary care are available for services provided by psychologists who are fully registered in the relevant jurisdiction regardless of any specialist clinical training. Registered psychologists must complete the standard 4 years of study in psychology with an additional 2 years of supervised practice, postgraduate coursework or a research degree, and meet any other jurisdiction-specific requirement for registration (DoH 2019: 77–78, 1219–1222, 1288–1291). 
Psychologist (other)

Clinical psychologist includes psychological therapy services provided only by clinical psychologists. Psychologist (other) includes services provided by both clinical psychologists and other psychologists (DoH 2019: 77–78, 1286–1287, 1225–1231, 1239–1244, 1291–1294, 1305–1308, 1337).

 

Data presented covers the time period 1984–85 to 2021–22. This section was last updated in April 2023.