Services will be eligible to be partially covered by Medicare, but patients will also have to rely on private health insurance or out-of-pocket costs \u2013 common in mental health care.<\/p>\n
Healy, the former head of NAB\u2019s business bank who went on to co-found Judo Bank in 2020, was motivated to move into the mental health space after his 24-year-old son George died in 2021.<\/p>\n
George had struggled with depression, and without successful treatment, had moved to the United States to study as a change of scenery. There, at a party, he took a drug laced with fentanyl, and later died in his sleep.<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw a system with my son that was difficult to navigate, and when you did, it was underwhelming,\u201d Healy said. \u201cAs a business executive \u2026 I saw mental health problems in the workplace, and tragedies, and always felt the business community and society did not care enough about what causes, or how to manage, these problems.\u201d<\/p>\n
The tragedy pushed Healy into devising Malu, though he had already developed an interest in health, having enrolled in a neuroscience and psychology masters from King\u2019s College London. After George\u2019s death, Healy\u2019s plans for Malu took shape, a process which included a six-week study tour of mental health hospitals and clinics in Europe to discover.<\/p>\n
In the Netherlands, Healy arranged to take psilocybin \u2013 the active ingredient in magic mushrooms \u2013 as he tried to better understand how it was being used for treatment-resistant depression.<\/p>\n
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Psilocybin treatment remains controversial and niche, with Healy saying it can cost more than $20,000 to access. He wants Malu to help change that, and challenge the traditional approach to medication that has seen one in seven Australians actively taking antidepressants, prescribed by a doctor, in 2025. <\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe health sector can tend to be quite conservative and traditional when assessing new therapies, but I think we have to have an open mind. I see psilocybin as having a role to play.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s wrong to close our mind to something that could help people who are really struggling, and they should have the right to access that treatment at a cost that is not prohibitive,\u201d Healy said.<\/p>\n Despite his long career in banking, Healy hopes Malu will define his legacy. \u201cWhen I pass away, I\u2019d like my tombstone not to say \u2018here lies Joseph the banker\u2019, but \u2018here lies Joseph the mental health entrepreneur\u2019.\u201d <\/p>\n