Funding Priorities for the New Mental Health System
The Senate Report Crisis to Community recommended a massive increase in funding for mental health in Australia of between 50-100% or $1.5-3 billion per annum. To put this in perspective, the Federal Government’s recent announcement will see an increase in mental health expenditure of between $200-500 million per annum.
Reform of the mental health system in Australia depends on this investment being properly targeted and properly accounted for across nine key areas:
| Prevention and Promotion | Private Health Sector Initiatives |
| Detection and Early Intervention | Research |
| Primary Care | Workforce |
| A Spectrum of Acute and Community Care | Accountability |
| Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Support |
Within these nine areas are several critical priorities where it is Time for Service :
| Priority Service Areas | Estimated Cost p.a. |
|---|---|
| 1. Early Intervention Youth Mental Health Service Program | Yr 1 $300m |
| Ongoing $150m | |
| 2. First Episode Services | Yr 1 $500m |
| Ongoing $300m | |
| 3. Initiatives to Promote Collaborative Primary Care | $300m |
| 4.1 Acute Care Outside Hospital | $200m |
| 4.2 Community Supported Recovery Services | $400m |
| 5. Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Support | $370m |
| 6. Addressing Stigma in the Community | $10m |
It is Time For Service investment in the order of $1.7 – 2 billion per annum7 for the next five years to meet these priorities, until mental health constitutes 12% of Australia’s total health expenditure.