KEY POINTS
- Australians have been told to expect COVID-19 waves for at least two years
- Mental health scheme to be scaled back.
- Free PCR tests from private GPs will require a doctor's referral.
Australians will find it more difficult to access a free PCR test from January, despite being warned to expect new COVID-19 waves "on a regular basis" for at least two years.
The federal government will invest $2.8 million in a national COVID-19 management plan for 2023, releasing its strategy to deal with the pandemic from January onwards.
In a bid to ease the strain on Australia's under-pressure health care system, Health Minister Mark Butler said the government will target its support for Australia's most vulnerable, moving away from "COVID exceptionalism" to treating it "in a similar way to other respiratory viruses".
But the opposition has blasted a "staggering" and "thoughtless" decision to reverse a mental health program implemented during the pandemic, which Labor warns had inadvertently made access more difficult for lower income Australians.
Chief medical officer Paul Kelly warned the emergence of new variants means COVID-19 waves are expected until at least the end of 2025.
But Professor Kelly assured Australians those spikes are unlikely to repeat the high death rates associated with the Delta variant.
"The severity of future waves may be milder, placing less pressure on the health system," he said.
"This, combined with improved immunity and hybrid immunity from repeat infections and targeted vaccinations, would reduce the clinical impact and result in fewer Australians suffering severe illness and death."
Australians have been told to expect new variants for at least two years. Source: AAP
Mental health changes
At the height of lockdowns in 2020, Australians diagnosed with a mental health disorder were given access to 20 Medicare-subsidised psychologist appointments.
But Mr Butler on Monday revealed that will be reduced to its pre-pandemic level of 10 from 2023, after an independent study found higher-income Australians were more likely to access the program.
The health minister said lower income people had in fact seen waitlists blow out, despite suffering more than double the rate of mental distress.
"The evaluation reinforces the importance, going forward, of making sure that there is more equitable access to this important program for those groups who the evaluation found have been largely missing out," he said.
"The additional services aggravated waitlists, aggravated barriers to access particularly for lowest income Australians, who … saw their access to services actually deteriorate over the course of this period."
Opposition health spokeswoman Anne Ruston said mental health support could "not be more important", as cost-of-living pressures rise and while the pandemic's effects are still being felt.
Ms Ruston described revoking the Coalition's package as "completely thoughtless".
"It is staggering that the Albanese Government has decided right now is a good time to rip away additional mental health support from Australians who have been relying on it," she said.
"It is absolutely vital that vulnerable Australians have continued access to the psychology sessions they need."
Long COVID prediction
Free vaccines, which the plan frames as the best means to reduce severe illness, will continue to be available, while oral antiviral treatments will be scaled up for eligible Australians.
From 1 January, Australians will require a referral from a "medical or nurse practitioner" to access Medicare-funded PCR tests.
The Commonwealth has agreed to extend its 50 per cent funding for state-run testing sites, where free PCR tests will continue to be available. But the number of state-run sites has been reduced since COVID-19 peaks in 2020 and 2021.
"There is no public health requirement or recommendation for low-risk individuals to seek PCR testing," the plan said.
Antiviral treatments, which are playing an increasingly prominent role in Australia's pandemic response, will be available to eligible Australians who test positive via a rapid antigen or PCR test.
Monday's announcement marked a significant shift from the last new year period, when a case surge driven by the highly-infectious Omicron variant saw the cost of rapid antigen tests skyrocket.
Lines for PCR tests, which were a requirement for much interstate travel at the time, were also overwhelmed, with some results taking over a week to return.
, Health Minister Mark Butler insisted the federal government would target its support at Australia’s most vulnerable.
"We will continue to protect those most at risk, while ensuring we have the capacity to respond to future waves and variants," he said.
Suppressing the 2021 Delta wave put Australia in a better position to deal with long COVID, a post-viral condition lingering well after initial infection, the plan stated.
The Omicron strain, which drove widespread infection in Australia in late 2021 and early 2022, is less likely to lead to long COVID.
"Australia's experience of long COVID is potentially different to many other countries due to our high two-dose vaccination rates, and the fact that our widespread levels of infection only occurred after the Omicron variant emerged," it said.
