In this year's budget, the federal government announced one of the biggest changes to the mental health system in nearly two decades: a digital early intervention service to relieve Australians' early psychological distress before it builds into mental illness. Starting in 2026, and based on the United Kingdom's Talking Therapies model , the service is expected to offer a combination of apps, websites and free telehealth therapy sessions that deliver a type of cognitive behavioral therapy called "low-intensity psychological interventions." The idea is that if we detect psychological distress early, we can prevent some people developing mental illness, and allow mental health experts more time to spend with complex patients.
It sounds good in theory, but it doesn't always work in practice. Here's what the evidence from the UK and elsewhere shows so far—and what we can learn for Australia's rollout. In theory, low-intensity psychological interventions that combine digital tools and telehealth sessions offer patients the same "dose" of treatment while needing less therapist time than conventional psychological treatments.
These time savings mean more clinical hours for therapists to see more patients. Research shows low-intensity interventions can help people improve patients' mental health, while addressing some big problems in the mental health system such as therapist shortages, long waitlists and the increasing cost of more in-depth therapies. Looking at service data from .
