More than half of Australia’s youth living with mental health problems cannot afford to get help, with calls for social media company profits to be taxed to fund support.
A new survey from the Black Dog Institute has found six in 10 young Australians are delaying seeking help due to cost.
Professor Samuel Harvey, Executive Director of not-for-profit mental health research institute, said Australia was facing a critical moment in its mental health crisis, with young people bearing the brunt of a failing system.
Professor Harvey said mental health now contributed to 15 percent of the nation’s health burden.
“Yet despite this urgent need, the new spending announced in this year’s budget marks the lowest allocation since 2018,” he said.
“Australia should consider a levy on the profits of social media companies and direct it into mental health services and research. That’s a more productive policy discussion than endless debates on age limits.”
Professor Harvey said the Institute’s survey revealed a stark snapshot of the barriers Australians faced in accessing mental health care. It found:
- Among adults who sought help, only 23 percent reported receiving timely and appropriate care, while just 37 percent felt they received what they needed to improve their mental health.
- Australians top reason for delaying or not seeking help for their mental health was the financial cost.
- Young adults aged 18-24 were twice as likely to struggle with the cost of accessing help (60 percent) compared to older adults aged 65-74 (23 percent).
“We are now passing on worse mental health outcomes to the next generation,” Professor Harvey said.
“We cannot accept a situation where the mental health system people turn to is too expensive, too overstretched, or simply unable to provide the care they need. If people are not getting the help they need this has to be considered a system failure.”
He said the latest report also included a new analysis of the National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing Survey data that suggested for every person receiving treatment, at least one person was going without.
