Ali Schnabel is a clinical psychologist from Naarm/Melbourne. She works primarily with autistic adult women and victims/survivors of sexual assault.
It’s not just that Australia’s mental health care system is underfunded. Austerity has bolstered reliance on quick, cost-cutting treatments like medication and cognitive behavioral therapy at the expense of long-term, socially oriented approaches.
Despite growing need and out-of-pocket costs, Anthony Albanese’s Labor government is halving the number of Medicare-subsidized psychology sessions Australians can access each year. It’s an austerity measure that will harm those who need support the most.