Consumers rated their mental health markedly higher after using the government-funded service, but governance gaps and workforce shortages are limiting the network, with rural centres most exposed.
A national review has found that fewer than 1% of staff at Medicare Mental Health Centres (MMHCs) work in medical or physical health roles, despite the centres most often supporting people with moderate or severe psychological distress.
The summary report from the 2025 Clinical Review of MMHCs, released today, found that while people with high distress levels experienced the greatest clinical improvement, workforce shortages limited access and consistency across the network.
The evaluation was commissioned by the federal government and conducted by Monash University and the University of Melbourne. It comprised a workforce analysis, engagement with 570 stakeholders – 98 of whom were consumers and carers with lived experience – and visits to 33 centres, including the first 20 that opened across Australia.
All provider organisations involved in the phone service participated.
Consumers reported substantial improvements in quality of life and clinical outcomes after using the services, rating their mental health an average of 3.5 out of 10 beforehand and 6.9 afterwards.
As of August 2026, 55 of the walk-in centres were in operation nationwide, with 92 planned to open by mid-2030.
The review found the model worked best when all four core services – accessible support, person-centred care, multidisciplinary care and community partnerships – operated together.
More than 400 staff worked across the 33 participating sites. Mental health clinicians were the largest group (52%), followed by peer workers (23%), with the remaining in management and administration. Fewer than 1% of staff were in medical and physical health roles.
Among mental health clinicians, most were social workers (21%), followed by mental health nurses (19%), counsellors (18%), and accredited mental health social workers (14%). Only 3% of mental health clinicians were clinical psychologists.
Psychological interventions and psychosocial support sessions comprised more than half of all sessions, and almost a third were clinical care coordination appointments. People typically had 10 to 11 service contacts per episode of care, with episodes lasting an average of three to four months.
The proportion of people assessed with the Initial Assessment and Referral Decision Support Tool (IAR-DST) at intake fell by 15% between 2022 and 2024, to four in five people.
The review found that the lack of a shared governance framework limited cross-network learning and slowed efforts to make quality improvements, leading to inefficiencies in service planning and delivery.
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Shared expectations across the network regarding quality, safety and service delivery “could help support a consistently positive experience while preserving the flexibility needed to respond to local community needs,” the report read.
Limited funding and workforce shortages hindered “achieving the right mix of skills, hiring the desired roles, and offering competitive salaries”, the report read.
Workforce gaps also limited short waits and after-hours access, especially at small centres, which faced additional sustainability challenges, including access to senior and specialist expertise and maintaining a full range of services when local referral options were limited.
The review also assessed the Medicare Mental Health phone service, a free national phone line delivered in partnership with Primary Health Networks, which provided local service referrals, information, advice and initial assessments.
Calls more than doubled from roughly 50,000 in 2022-23 to over 120,000 in 2023-24. However, the evaluation found community awareness of the service was low, and its success largely depended on the quality and timeliness of updates to each PHN’s local service directory.
The report attributed inconsistent delivery across regions and PHNs to a lack of free or low-cost services for patient referrals and communication challenges, including insufficient follow-up, as well as workforce shortages.
It called for centralised support to improve national consistency, better financial and workforce reporting standards so the service could be properly evaluated, and national guidance defining service roles and setting consistent expectations across all PHNs.
“Planning would be significantly enhanced with better linkage of relevant national datasets, ideally in conjunction with local workforce and service provision modelling tools,” the report read.
Consistent training, more flexible working arrangements and employment contracts were also identified as important interventions across the board.
Read the evaluation of the MMHC centres here, and phone service here.
