Response to the Department of Health survey on the final recommendations of the Productivity Commission Inquiry into Mental Health

This document is Mental Health Australia’s response to the Australian Government’s Department of Health survey seeking views on the final recommendations in the Productivity Commission Inquiry into Mental Health Final Report (PC Report), particularly with respect to priorities and implementation issues.

Mental Health Australia supports the Productivity Commission’s recommendations for priority and longer term implementation based on its extensive consultations and economic analysis. Mental Health Australia supports efforts for broad, comprehensive, and long-term reform. An immediate priority therefore will be the development of a comprehensive implementation plan that sets out the prioritisation of all PC Report recommendations across a timescale with allocated funding that ensures accountability across all governments and the mental health sector.     

The most significant gap identified within the PC Report is the lack of a community-based mental health framework for service delivery within which the PC Report’s recommendations can be delivered. 

Mental Health Australia’s top three priorities are:
•    development of an implementation plan for the Productivity Commission’s recommendations 
•    provision of an accompanying budgetary plan that identifies the key components of the future mental health system
•    investment in the 2021-22 Federal Budget to fund PC Report recommendations that can be implemented immediately.