No Health Without Mental Health

“We will reap what we sow,” Frank Quinlan, CEO of Mental Health Australia, said today at the launch of the 2015 Intergenerational Report at Parliament House in Canberra.

“The decisions we take today will affect the health and the mental health of generations to come.

”The release of today’s Intergenerational Report comes sandwiched between the recently published McClure Report and the yet to be released National Mental Health Commission’s Review of Mental Health Services and Programmes.

“The McClure Review identified mental illness as one of the leading future causes of morbidity and mortality, while the Commission’s Review is expected to help tackle this by laying out a plan for mental health reform,” Mr Quinlan said.

“Today’s Intergenerational Report reminds us that long term planning is required to overcome our most intractable problems. That includes mental illness.”

“If we are to overcome some of the challenges laid out in today’s Intergenerational Report and by the recent McClure Report, our action on mental health reform must begin now. Good mental health remains an integral part of a healthy and productive society.”

Mental Health Australia has consistently called for a long-term plan for mental health reform to ensure investment is focussed on promoting good mental health, preventing and intervening early in illness, and providing comprehensive support and care for people who experience illness.

“We must build a system that does not wait for people to become very ill before providing care and support. We need a system that harnesses the untapped human potential offered by those who experience mental illness, and those who care for them.

“In addition, we must continue to fund those existing mental health services and programmes that support people living with mental illness in our community, while we design and implement future reforms. That means suring up programmes whose funding is currently scheduled to end on June 30.

“We have very little time left to provide them with the certainty they need to continue to help those who are vulnerable in our community, before we lose these services and programmes for good.”