According to a recent statement by the Mental Health Council of Australia (MHCA), the proposed spending on Medicare-backed psychologist appointments will probably touch $2 billion by next year; paving the way for an almost two-fold increase over the next four-year period.

The decision by the Rudd government, to increase the funding for mental health initiatives, comes after advocates said that cost of a leading commonwealth program had shot up by nearly 400 percent; thereby raising concerns that the government’s rebate scheme will further fail to reach the people who wish to access the service.

Going by the statistics, the cost of the Medicare program has already soared to almost $1 billion; which far exceeds the Labor’s increased $753-million funding – from the commonwealth’s original 2006 budget of $538 million for the five-year program.

Noting that mental health initiatives will cost $2 billion by 2011, MHCA’s chief executive, David Crosbie, said: “It's already double what was projected for five years and it's only been going, really, for three years. So for the five years it looks like being about four times the amount they first budgeted.”

In a statement pertaining to the proposed funding increase, Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon said that the increased funding brings along an ‘accountability’ agenda that will help ensure that the services reach the people who need them, like young men and people in rural areas.