Like many Australians, Brooke Bottrell has been fairly tuned out of this federal election.
The Coffs Harbour mother has had little capacity for politics as she tries to find medical specialists and support for her stepdaughter and son.
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Her 10-year-old stepdaughter was seeing youth mental health organisation headspace locally, before being categorised as too complex for the service.
Ms Bottrell’s kids have struggled to access mental health services in Coffs Harbour. (ABC Coffs Coast: Claire Simmonds)
“[She] has been through body shaming and suicidal thoughts,” Ms Bottrell said.
“Once you add autism on top of that, there’s really no services available.”
Support for young people and families
- The Butterfly Foundation: National helpline 1800 ED HOPE (1800 33 4673), 8am-midnight (AEST/AEDT), 7 days a week
- ReachOut Australia: Confidential online peer support for young people and online resources for wellbeing
- Headspace: Centres in each state and territory or check out eheadspace for online support
- The Kids Helpline: 24-hour support on 1800 55 1800
- Lifeline: 24-hour support for all Australians on 13 11 14
Meanwhile Ms Bottrell said it took her two years to get her now 11-year-old son into a child psychologist, only to have the specialist relocate to Port Macquarie, more than 150 kilometres away.
Her son’s ongoing treatment is now done via telehealth.
Ms Bottrell said accessing mental health care had been a drawn-out battle, and was an issue should would like to see addressed by both sides of politics.
“The cost is huge. You can’t access the services through the public system because we just don’t have them,”
Ms Bottrell said.
In the hotly contested NSW regional electorate of Cowper, access to youth mental healthcare services has become a key topic.
Access to health care and mental health were two of the top three issues for the electorate of Cowper, along with housing affordability and homelessness, in a pre-election survey conducted by the Salvation Army.
Gaps in care
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, about one in seven young people experienced a mental health disorder in the past 12 months.
The clinical lead at headspace Coffs Harbour, Emily Fraser, said young people in Cowper and regional areas struggled to access affordable care due to a lack of specialists.
Emily Fraser says there are gaps in access to mental health care. (ABC Coffs Coast: Claire Simmonds)
“One of the gaps we’re seeing a lot is for ADHD and autism assessments, which require a specialist report from a psychiatrist or paediatrician,” Ms Fraser said.
“There’s also limited access to GPs that prescribe medication for ADHD. There’s a couple that do, but outside of them, its like [finding] hen’s teeth.”
While headspace helps a large proportion with its free early intervention model of care for 12–25 year olds, there are young people who fall outside what they offer.
Coffs Harbour-based clinical psychologist Basia Radlinska says local children under 12 can wait up to two years to get mental health support.
“If you want to know what it’s like to wait for mental healthcare, try to get a kid under the age of 10 in for an assessment,”
Dr Radlinska said.
Basia Radlinska says children under 12 who need a psychiatric assessment can wait for up to two years. (ABC Coffs Coast: Claire Simmonds)
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Policies for the ‘missing middle’Meet the people falling through the gaps of the mental health care system
The “missing middle” — young people whose mental health care sit somewhere between early intervention and acute needs — is a focus for local candidates running for the seat.
Sitting Nationals MP Pat Conaghan said he had experienced the issue first hand.
“I know close friends that have had to go to Queensland to get their child assessed for autism and ADHD,”
Mr Conaghan said.
Pat Conaghan says a Coalition government would put $100 million into regional healthcare. (ABC Coffs Coast: Toby Hemmings)
The Coalition has committed to invest $400 million specifically into youth mental health, which will include increasing the capacity of headspace centres and reinstating 20 Medicare-subsidised psychology sessions per year.
Dr Radlinska said expansions to headspace were crucial to helping meet the needs of young people.
“[Headspace] doesn’t serve youth who might have more complex mental health difficulties or who have been engaged with the system already,” she said.
Labor candidate for Cowper Greg Vigors says his party has promised similar measures in its billion-dollar mental health care election commitment, including opening new Medicare mental health centres across the country.
Greg Vigors says Labor will commit a billion dollars to mental healthcare. (ABC Coffs Coast: Claire Simmonds)
Independent candidate for Cowper and former nurse Caz Heise said if elected, she would support restoring access to a minimum of 20 mental health sessions per calendar year.
“We’ve got a community where the statistics around mental health are getting worse not better, and where we haven’t had a focus to actually nip this in the bud.”
Caz Heise says if elected, she’ll lobby for 20 Medicare-subsidised mental health sessions to be reinstated. (Supplied)
Dr Radlinska said while it was positive to see all the political parties talking about putting more money into youth mental health, the promise of more Medicare mental health centres from Labor was particularly appealing.
“We’ve had one in Coffs Harbour for the last six months and its already going really well,” Dr Radlinska said.
“It looks like Labor are focusing more on expanding services to address the ‘missing middle.'”
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Brooke Bottrell hopes that whoever is elected advocates for more training and funding for services in regional areas.
“The area needs a lot of mental health services implemented and a lot of funding brought in to be able to support us,” she said.
“If I can see anyone that’s going to bring that to the party, then they would definitely get my vote.”