Back to work on the bold and ambitious mental health reform Australia needs
In an historic result, the Albanese Labor Government has been re-elected by a significant majority over the weekend. This outcome is noteworthy on several levels, including that this will be the second largest federal majority government yet formed (second to the Coalition in 1996), and largest Labor Federal majority ever.
Encouragingly, this election outcome provides a strong mandate to progress mental health reforms that the community and sector have been calling for, and that Australia so urgently needs.
One path forward created by the increased majority is the possibility of a more ambitious and bolder second term. A more direct line of negotiation through the Senate may influence the Government’s appetite for more complex and ambitious reform agendas. Another outcome could be that the decreased influence of the crossbench in the lower house will make it harder to drive changes to Labor’s policy platform. We won’t really know what our future holds until the dust has settled and parliamentary activity has resumed.
Of course, timing is critical. It is important that we start working with the new government early in the term, leveraging the recognition of the urgency of mental health reform we achieved throughout the campaign.
In the coming weeks, we will seek to brief the Minister and their team on the implementation of new election commitments, as well as progressing our case for real, meaningful progress on remaining system gaps, including unmet need for psychosocial supports, worrying trends in child mental health and the need to invest more in prevention, and the ever-present challenge of workforce expansion and development.
We hope to guide the implementation of the promised $1 billion mental health package announced by Labor during the campaign, aimed at improving affordability and access to mental health support for young people and adults, as well as other much-needed commitments on perinatal and men’s mental health.
Strong relationships within and across government will be vital to success in the new political landscape, and having a united agenda on key issues will be important in securing the progress we need to see.
We look forward to continuing to collaborate with our members as the next term begins, to leverage the momentum already achieved and to work with a government that already has an eye on the future (and a potential third term, given recent results) to drive forward the longer-term approaches to mental health planning and reform we truly need.
Carolyn Nikoloski
CEO, Mental Health Australia | 
