Mental health aid shuns regions

A SURGE in the number of psychologists has failed to dent the nation’s rising suicide toll.

An investigation has also found mental health professionals are not being deployed to areas most in need – and the city to country ratio is more lopsided than ever.

Further, a rapid rise in mental health prescriptions has not stopped Australians taking their own lives. The analysis of Australian Institute of Health and Welfare data shows although there are 5490 more psychologists now than in 2011, the annual increase in suicides totalled 745 by 2019.

The analysis also found suicide rates are lowest in states where mental health prescriptions are lowest, with the exception of the Northern Territory, where scripts are low and the number of people taking their lives is high.

SANE Australia CEO Jack Heath said a key problem was psychologists and psychiatrists were not working in the areas of greatest need.

“If you look at psychiatrists, you’ve got 16 per 100,000 in the major cities, then you go out to the regional areas and it drops to 6.4,” he said.

The number of psychologists dropped from 105 per 100,000 people in major cities to 61 per 100,000 in inner regional areas and 46 per 100,000 in outer regional areas.

Likewise the Medicare dollars spent on the mental health of people in cities was five times higher than the amount spent on people in the regions.

“So, we haven’t got the funding mix right,” he said.