federal budget

Tonight’s Budget includes a number of welcome new initiatives for mental health, but leaves ongoing uncertainty about how current reforms will be coordinated...

Read our summary of the mental health-related measures in the 2016-17 Federal Budget

Perspectives Newsletter - September 2015. Mental health reform in Australia is currently impacted by many government processes. Much of the work currently conducted is being done with an eye on the future state of our mental health system. However, consideration needs to be given to the arrangements needed to ensure services continue while the new system is being created. Mental Health Australia CEO Frank Quinlan looks at the need for transition planning.

Perspectives Newsletter - May/June 2015. It’s been a busy month in the political space in relation to mental health. Over the last month we’ve had the release of the National Mental Health Commission’s Review into Programmes and Services, as well as the 2015 Federal Budget. While the Budget had very little to say about mental health, the release of the Review spells out the issues and also possible solutions for change, and provides a clear pathway to reform.

The Government’s commitments in mental health were made clear a few weeks ago when they released the National Mental Health Commission’s Review of Programs and Services – indicating that they would establish an Expert Reference Group and enter into negotiations with the states and territories to develop the 5th National Mental Health Plan. While there are a couple of mental health-specific measures, along with some important initiatives to support youth employment there are few details about the long-term reform task confronting our sector. The National Mental Health Commission’s Review has no doubt impressed upon the Government the scale of the challenge – perhaps explaining why news of its substantive response to the Review’s recommendations must await another day. Budget 2015 has come and gone, but the need for reform remains pressing. Read Mental Health Australia’s 2015 Federal Budget Summary here.

Mental Health Australia has renewed its call for a decade of mental health reform, commencing immediately, following the release of the 2015 Federal Budget. “If we are to fix our ailing mental health system, we need a long-term, systematic approach to reform that reaches beyond annual budgets, partisan politics and short-term electoral cycles,” Mental Health Australia CEO Frank Quinlan said.

Any Budget night announcement of new measures for mental health, or the lack thereof, must not distract from the pressing need for long-term, systemic reform, Mental Health Australia said today. “We must not lose our appetite for the decade-long reform outlined in the National Mental Health Commission’s Review of Mental Health Programmes and Services,” CEO of Mental Health Australia Frank Quinlan said.

In response to an invitation from the Federal Treasurer to provide input on priorities for the 2015-16 Budget, Mental Health Australia emphasised the importance of the Blueprint for Action on Mental Health, which was based on extensive consultation with our 132 members, consumers and carers, professional groups, community mental health providers, researchers and educators.