Australia: health professionals consulted by mental disorder sufferers by type and age

Share of population with a mental disorder who consulted a health professional in Australia between 2020 and 2022, by type and age

Characteristic	16-34 years	35-64 years	65-85 years
General practitioner	36.1%	36.5%	26.6%
Psychiatrist	10.4%	9.1%	9.3%
Psychologist	25.6%	18.1%	13%
Other mental health professional*	14.1%	12.1%	5.4%
Any service used for mental health**	46.2%	45.7%	35.1%

Download

Source

Show detailed source information?

Already a member?

Source

Release date

October 2023

More information

Region

Australia

Survey time period

December 2020 to October 2022

Number of respondents

15,893 households

Age group

16-85 years

Method of interview

Face-to-face interview

Supplementary notes

Includes consultations with health professionals for mental health within the 12 months prior to the interview by people with any 12-month mental disorder.

*Includes mental health nurse and other mental health professional.

** Also includes specialist doctor or surgeon, other health professional and hospital admissions for mental health.

Study included all usual residents in Australia living in private dwellings in both urban and rural areas in all states and territories, except very remote parts of Australia and discrete Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

The exclusion of residents in special dwellings (e.g., hotels, boarding houses, and institutions) and homeless people means the results are likely to underestimate the prevalence of mental health disorders in the Australian population.

Citation formats

According to a survey conducted between 2020 and 2022, over 36 percent of people aged between 16 and 34 years who have a mental health disorder had a consultation with a general practitioner. Only around ten percent of the same cohort had a consultation with a psychiatrist.