00:01When Rachel Burns was a teenager, the mental health system left her feeling broken.
00:06By the time I got any support, I was deep, deep, deep within behaviours that fuelled my eating disorder
00:15and that I'd kind of lost my identity by the point that I even received any care.
00:21A new national psychiatry report has highlighted some of the barriers in the system for young people.
00:27The report found between 2020 and 2024, just 11 doctors in WA started training to become child and adolescent psychiatrists.
00:36And it's warned the shortfall is only going to get worse, with a gap of more than 37 full-time
00:43psychiatrists by 2028,
00:45the third largest in the country behind New South Wales and Victoria.
00:49Young people's mental health needs and demands are ever increasing, but our workforce is not keeping pace with that.
00:59Professor Eepen says it means under 12s with complex cases are missing out on early intervention.
01:05We are seeing what we would have seen in 14, 15, 10 years ago, we are now seeing that complexity
01:11in 10 and 11 year olds.
01:12Now working as a lived experience advocate, Ms Burns says while psychiatry might not be the appropriate avenue for everyone,
01:19it can open doors.
01:21The reality is that a lot of referrals depend on having a psychiatrist, a lot of acceptance letters and a
01:29lot of just not being redirected to a different service depend on having a psychiatrist as an access point.
01:36So it's not all about child and health and psychiatrists, but it's having the system, but also training positions to
01:42be built into it.
01:43The Federal Government didn't respond to the report's findings, but in a statement said it was investing in training and
01:48a variety of services to address gaps in care for young people.
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