CEO Update - Prime Minister focussed on mental health

Prime Minister focussed on mental health

This week began with a surprise meeting, the Prime Minister inviting a small group to join him and the Minister for Health Greg Hunt to discuss the progress of mental health reform.

It was very encouraging to see the Prime Minister and Minister Hunt listening with such interest, and to see a small group of representatives from diverse parts of the mental health sector presenting such a united front.

The meeting was an informal one, so there is no agenda to report as such, but members and stakeholders would see no surprises in the issues that Mental Health Australia took forward.

One issue that was raised, and which is now in the public domain, is the uncertainty that has been inadvertently created by the short term nature of many programs including Primary Health Networks.  It appears Minister Hunt has taken urgent action on our concerns, announcing to Primary Health Networks yesterday that contracts will be extended to five years to provide greater certainty, allowing them, in turn, to provide greater certainty to the services they commission.  While we await the detail, this is a decisive step forward.

The meeting was also a wonderful prelude for the Mental Health Australia Parliamentary Advocacy Day next week at Parliament House in Canberra, which will be attended by the Prime Minister and Minster Hunt, along with Opposition Leader Bill Shorten and Shadow Minister for Ageing and Mental Health Julie Collins.   

The 2017 Mental Health Australia Parliamentary Advocacy Day and Members Policy Forum on Thursday will be bigger than ever, and will see more than 80 delegates and representatives from the mental health sector converge on Parliament House for a series of presentations, meetings and informal gatherings. 

The aim of the day is to raise awareness among politicians of the urgent need for further action on mental health reform and we are looking forward to hearing from key ministers, and meeting with some 40 senators and MPs on a day where more than 45 of our members will be represented.

An important day to fix mental health.

Warm regards 
Frank