Muswellbrook Medicare Mental Health Centre, delivered by Social Futures, is the first to join a new Centralised Service rolling out across the national network. The service allows consumers to access free psychology and psychiatry consultations via options including phone or video, with after-hours on-call availability for urgent care needs. Integrating virtual psychiatry and psychology expertise strengthens existing local supports to ensure communities like Muswellbrook have greater choices to access the right care at the right time.
A new Centralised Service for Medicare Mental Health Centres is being rolled out, providing free tele-psychology and tele-psychiatry support across the national network.
The Muswellbrook Medicare Mental Health Centre, delivered by Social Futures, is the first to join the new service.
The Centralised Service strengthens each Centre’s multidisciplinary care team by integrating virtual psychiatry and psychology expertise into existing supports.
Social Futures General Manager of Mental Health and Wellbeing, Simone Silberberg, welcomed the announcement, saying “This service doesn’t replace the work we do locally, it strengthens it, ensuring communities like Muswellbrook have choices that allow them to access the right care at the right time.”
Medicare Mental Health Centres are welcoming spaces where anyone can access free mental health information, services and support – no referral or appointment needed.
The Muswellbrook Centre opened in April 2024 and is staffed by qualified mental health professionals and peer workers with lived experience of mental ill health.
The Centre provides immediate help for people in distress, as well as support for families and carers, and links to other services such as housing and employment assistance.
By enhancing clinical capacity, the Centralised Service addresses workforce shortages, particularly in regional and remote areas where access to psychiatry and psychology can be limited.
Consumers will be able to access free psychology and psychiatry consultations via options including phone or video, with after-hours on-call availability for urgent care needs.
Importantly, the Centralised Service has been designed to be inclusive, culturally safe and appropriate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, LGBTIQSB+ communities, and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
The Muswellbrook Medicare Mental Health Centre is located at 160 Bridge Street, with extended opening hours and outreach in Scone and Singleton.
For more information visit socialfutures.org.au/medicarementalhealthcentre or call 1800 595 212.
Muswellbrook Medicare Mental Health Centre is commissioned by the Hunter New England and Central Coast Primary Health Network (HNECC PHN) and proudly funded by the Australian and NSW Governments.
