Victorian Royal Commission the final piece in solving the national mental health reform puzzle

Mental Health Australia has today welcomed the release of the final report from the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System, and the commitment to implement all recommendations, saying such action should be a further catalyst for driving national reform.

Mental Health Australia CEO, Dr Leanne Beagley says the report, and others like it, will now shape the path for an effective national agreement on how best to deliver, and pay for, mental health services in Australia.

“Less than four months after the release of the Productivity Commission Inquiry into Mental Health, and following yesterday’s Final Report from the Aged Care Royal Commission, we now see another important report, this time at a state level, which will further help inform generational reform for mental health across Australia,” said Dr Beagley.

“The recommendations for clear and direct action in these reports — recommendations that have been formed through extensive engagement with the sector, especially with people with lived experience of mental ill health — must now sit at the centre of a National Agreement for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention.

“The recommendations in Victoria, and the legislative changes that will follow, will provide a way forward to act, and solve the puzzle of how best to integrate services across the lifespan, from acute and bed-based services to community-based supports, to help improve the lives of the one in five Australians affected by mental illness each year.

“The review and reflection over the last two years has been welcomed and needed, with lived experience leadership at its heart, and it has coincided with a time in our world where the focus on mental health and wellbeing has never been higher, nor more important, especially when we consider the expected long term effects of the COVID-19 global pandemic.

“With these reports finalised, federal, state and territory governments now have a set of recommendations on which to act, and on which to achieve true generational reform for mental health in Australia.

“The mental health of our nation, and our communities and for all Australians is of the utmost importance.

“The challenge now is to find agreement on who will do what, by when, why, and how, a process which is already underway through the Health Reform Committee that has been tasked to deliver a new agreement on mental health and suicide prevention by November 2021.”

Ends.

Media Contact:
Lachlan Searle – 0488 076 088
Email: Lachlan.Searle@mhaustralia.org

About Mental Health Australia

Mental Health Australia is the peak, national non-government organisation representing and promoting the interests of the Australian mental health sector and committed to achieving better mental health for all Australians. It was established in 1997 as the first independent peak body in Australia to represent the full spectrum of mental health stakeholders and issues. Mental Health Australia members include national organisations representing consumers, carers, special needs groups, clinical service providers, professional bodies, public and private mental health service providers, researchers and state/territory community mental health peak bodies.