Newsletters / Bulletins

Mental Health Australia has a clear vision of mentally healthy people, and mentally healthy communities. This weekend, thousands of people in our community will celebrate the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. For nearly 40 years, Mardi Gras has grown to represent so much more than a march of pride through city streets. And for many LGBTIQ Australians, it is an important, and sometimes the only weekend where routine discrimination does not cast its dark shadow. Discrimination that is a huge contributor to poor mental health.

This is the question we posed to consumers at carers when I was the guest of the SANE Forums earlier this week. The overwhelming response only reaffirmed to me that we need to work harder to fix mental health in Australia. Speaking broadly about ‘What is mental health reform? And what does it mean for you?’ I was encouraged by the opportunity to participate in the forum, but more importantly, and as I am lucky enough to do regularly, I benefit greatly from the chance to listen to individual stories of what is working… and what is not.

The politicians are back, parliament sits next week, and already we’ve heard from the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition as they both try to set up the political year. Today we also heard from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare with a headline report which says $8.5 billion was spent nationally on mental health services in 2014/15 – a reported increase of $911 million from 2010/11. As we finalise our pre-budget submission, the AIHW report is a perfect example of why we need the Commonwealth to commit to targets, measures and accountabilities in relation to mental health spending and service delivery..

This update invites mental health service providers to participate in a free webinar designed to help organisations build their ICT literacy and capability and upgrade, or select new systems, in preparation for the NDIS .