Mental health, welfare and medical groups have intensified their call for a fully funded mental health agreement, warning the system remains in crisis.
Mental Health Australia has penned an open letter to the prime minister, Tony Abbott, and the premiers and chief ministers calling for action ahead of next week’s “leader’s retreat” in Sydney.
The chief executive of Mental Health Australia, Frank Quinlan, said the federal health minister, Sussan Ley, had indicated the country needed a national, coordinated and binding agreement on mental health.
“We have waited too long for such and agreement,” Quinlan said. “The system is in crisis right now, and we need action, not after the next budget, not after the next election, but starting now with a commitment from our leaders.”
Abbott will meet the premiers next week for a Council of Australian Governments meeting which will discuss the division of service delivery responsibilities between Canberra and the states.
The letter signed by 92 health and welfare groups and experts including Ian Hickie from the Brain and Mind Research Institute and John Mendoza from ConNetica – but not Beyond Blue or Headspace – asks the prime minister and the premiers to act on commitments given in 2012 to implement national whole-of-life targets for improving mental health outcomes.
It also calls for a mental health agreement as a matter of urgency that “boosts investment in early intervention and prevention”; articulates responsibilities across various government portfolios; expands services in communities; and guarantees “acceptable” service standards.
The timeframe laid down by Quinlan makes it clear the sector wants concrete action by year’s end.
Ley responded to the renewed call by saying work on a national plan was already “well underway.”
“We have a real opportunity to deliver meaningful long-term reform and this government is taking action by working hand-in-hand with the mental health sector to take the National Mental Health Commission’s landmark review from paper to policy,” Ley said in a statement issued to Guardian Australia.
“But we also need a national approach and this has been recognised by health ministers at all levels of government and we are continuing to work together to deliver this fundamental reform.”
The National Mental Health Commission’s review leaked to the media in April. With key issues unresolved and some services due to lose funding in June – the Abbott government allocated $300m to bankroll services while governments discussed a new national mental health plan.
The government has appointed an expert group led by former Beyond Blue chief executive Kate Carnell to oversee the implementation of commission’s review recommendations.
