Boost for psychology services in the bush
BETTER mental health services are on their way to the those living in rural and remote parts of Queensland.
Member for Maranoa David Littleproud said residents in these communities will be able to claim a new Medicare rebate for online teleconferenced psychology services.
"This is an absolute game-changer for better mental health support in the bush and means rural and remote Australians - for the first time - will be able to access psychology services covered by Medicare through teleconferencing,” Mr Littleproud said.
"Previously, people travelled hundreds of kilometres to a town to access face-to-face psychology services because there was no Medicare rebate if you saw the practitioner via teleconferencing.”
The Maranoa MP - whose electorate spans more than 42% of rural Queensland and includes some of the state's most remote communities - pushed for the tele-health Medicare rebate as one of his first items of business when he was elected last September.
"Mental health and better access to support in the bush is raised with me almost every day, especially when people are faced with elements outside their control, like drought, so this was an important issue which I felt needed to be addressed quickly,” he said.
The Federal Government included the initiative in last week's budget at a cost of $9million over four years starting next financial year.
