submission

In this joint submission, the National Mental Health Consumer and Carer Forum and the MHCA discuss human rights and equal recognition before the law for people with mental illness and psychosocial disability. The submission makes a series of recommendations about nationally consistent approaches to legal capacity, supported decision-making, advance care planning, mental health legislation and restrictive practices.

The central principles of the National Disability Insurance Scheme ( NDIS ) of consumer choice and control go to the heart of the Australian Law Reform Commission’s inquiry into equality before the law of people with disability. In this submission, the MHCA outlines concerns around equal recognition for people with psychosocial disability through the NDIS , including in relation to scheme design, service quality and safeguards, and supported decision-making.

This week the National Mental Health Commission’s Review Terms of Reference have been released, read an update on the progress of our NDIS Capacity Building Projects and download our Submission to the Australian Law Reform Commission.

This submission to the Australian Law Reform Commission ( ALRC ) describes how people with experience of mental illness often do not have access to insurance on reasonable terms. The MHCA argues that the exemptions that providers of insurance currently enjoy under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 be reviewed and amended, and that an independent actuarial study be conducted on the data insurers use to assess the risks associated with mental illness. The submission also calls for a number of improvements to industry practice, including to insurance products, guidelines, forms and processes, and staff training.

This submission by the MHCA recommends that the Commission of Audit defer any specific action in relation to mental health (beyond possibly lending its support to the need for substantial review) to the more detailed process that will be conducted by the National Mental Health Commission.

In this submission to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission ( ACCC ) regarding private health insurance, the MHCA has highlighted a number of issues that have the potential to disadvantage mental health consumers, carers and allied health professionals.

The second consultation draft has significantly clarified the framework’s purpose and provides greater clarity around recovery models and the translation of recovery principles into action by mental health services.

In this submission the MHCA argues that the burden of disease and cost to the economy from both mental illness and co-occuring physical health conditions cannot be ignored and recommends that the National Preventative Health Agency identify the prevention of mental illness as an issue of growing importance and include it as a research priority.

The MHCA applauds the Safety and Quality Partnership Subcommittee’s recognition of the role of recovery as critical to better mental health services and encourages an organisational learning approach and the establishment of a national strategy.

In this submission the MHCA congratulates the Mental Health Standing Committee for its recognition of the role of recovery as critical to the implementation of better mental health services, and makes a series of suggestions context of our desire to drive lasting change in the delivery of recovery based services to mental health consumers and carers. These suggestions centre around ensuring a focus on people with lived experience and maximising the impact of the Framework through a range of educational and sector development mechanisms.