Josh’s jobs cash splash
A REVOLUTIONARY online mental health platform to help hundreds of thousands more Australians will be unveiled in a federal budget that pumps tens of billions of dollars into essential services.
Sweeping job-creating initiatives will also headline Josh Frydenberg’s third budget, to be released on Tuesday, in an effort to maintain the momentum of the nation’s world-beating recovery from the coronavirus recession.
More than $10bn to fix the problem-plagued aged care system, extra funding for family violence services and tax cuts worth up to $1080 for millions of low and middle income workers are other key initiatives in the budget.
Economists expect the deficit will be at least $40bn better than the record $213.7bn black hole forecast last October, with the Treasurer confident that getting the country back to work will be the fastest way to repair the economy and pay down a $1 trillion debt bill.
The digital mental health platform will be a centrepiece of the government’s longawaited plan to fix the gaps in the system. It could see Australians battling untreated mental health problems bypass GPs and access help online, after a series of powerful inquiries recommended the overhaul to enable accessible low-cost care.
About half a million Australians who would benefit from “low intensity” help are not accessing any care, according to the Productivity Commission, which recommended the online tool replace the need for GPs to approve patients for Medicare-subsidised treatment.
Under its proposal, the digital platform would provide an entry point for people to find appropriate online or in-person support, and collate the best advice and information to treat conditions including anxiety and depression.
Scott Morrison said digital services would play an “absolutely massive” role in the overhauled mental health system, particularly for Australians in rural and remote areas.
“The things that we know have worked during COVID, I think, have unleashed new opportunities for how we deliver services in this country, and will enable us to double down in many of these areas,” the Prime Minister said last week.
“In mental health, the ability to use these types of facilities and services is significant.”
Mr Frydenberg said Australia’s debt level was manageable, and that as a proportion of the size of the economy, it would peak at less than half the level of the US and the UK.
Debt-servicing payments are also lower than before the pandemic because of record low interest rates.
Mr Frydenberg said the labour market had “outperformed even Treasury’s most optimistic forecasts” during the once-in-a-century pandemic, enabling the government to shift its focus to driving the unemployment rate below 5 per cent.
He said the budget was all about creating more jobs, guaranteeing essential services and “securing the recovery”.
An extra 200,000 people had jobs in March than the government had expected in December, delivering a $5bn budget boost via smaller welfare payments and larger tax receipts.
But Labor leader Anthony Albanese warned that now the government had “discovered that jobs should be a priority”, all it had was “destroy their own rhetorical position of so many years about deficit”.