Eating disorder support not keeping up with surge in regional cases

For nearly a decade, Jessie (not her real name) battled an eating disorder under the gaze of her small rural community.

The shame and stigma, combined with a lack of professional services in the north-east Victorian town, meant Jessie felt unable to seek the help she needed.

"I didn't feel comfortable talking about it to anyone," she said.

Things changed when Jessie moved to Melbourne, closer to support services and away from small-town gossip.

Finally comfortable asking for help and now in her early 20s, she has been diagnosed with atypical anorexia after battling the condition since 2018.

The National Eating Disorders Association says atypical anorexia is an eating disorder that presents with the same symptoms as anorexia nervosa, except that the person is within a "normal" or higher weight range after losing a significant amount of weight.

Regional obstacles

Jessie is not the only person who has struggled to access help while living in regional Victoria.

A 2026 report from Eating Disorders Victoria (EDV) found that the surge of diagnoses during the COVID-19 lockdowns had not slowed down.

The report found there were more than 40 eating disorder-related emergency presentations each week between March and May, a return to the same levels seen during the height of the pandemic.

The report estimated only three in 10 Victorians could access treatment for their eating disorder.

Jessie said a lack of access to support when it was needed worsened her symptoms.

"It's just going to intensify anything that's going on," she said.

"It needs to be spoken about more."

EDV chief executive Paul Bird said more work was needed to destigmatise the disorder.

"It's a question of how we normalise eating disorders as a mental health condition," Mr Bird said.

Supply cannot meet demand

In 2020, a Butterfly Foundation survey found 94 per cent of regional Australians with an eating disorder said their location was an obstacle to accessing help.

Six years later, that does not appear to have changed.

Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatry's Carol Silberberg said there were limited-to-no specialist eating disorder services available in regional and rural parts of Victoria, meaning people had to travel to access crucial treatment.

"There are only a few public [eating disorder services] in the state, and they're all in Melbourne.

"I had a patient a couple of years ago who was admitted for acute treatment, and then when she was stepped down to the day program, she didn't have any accommodation in Melbourne.

"People are really in a bind."

Dr Silberberg said more psychiatrists needed to be trained to boost the workforce, particularly in regional areas, while hospitals and community-based services needed more funding to bolster care access in the country.

"Victoria has a really good eating disorder strategy, but we just need more funding in clinical services to actually implement it," she said.

Dr Silberberg said best-practice treatment involved "wrap-around care", with a variety of specialists, including physicians, psychologists, dietitians and lived-experienced workers, which can prove challenging for patients in regional areas.

For Jessie, moving to a big city meant she finally had access to care, but she said there was still a long road to a full recovery.

"I've been dealing with it for quite a few years, [so] there's a lot of behaviours that I'm very used to living with," she said.