$277m for mental health
July 27, 2010
HEALTH minister Nicola Roxon
says that mental health in Australia
will be enhanced by the govt’s
plans for primary health reform.
Along with PM Julia Gillard,
Roxon today announced $276.9m
in funding for mental health
services, with the money including
$114m to provide more frontline
counselling and psychiatry services
in the community for people with
severe mental illness, as well as
$74.3m in direct suicide prevention
and crisis intervention services -
including $18m for Lifeline
Australia’s support hotlines.
There will also be $23m for more
services and programs targeted at
men, who are far more likely than
women to commit suicide, plus
$66m to provide more services for
kids with mental health problems
and to promote “resilience and good
mental health in young people”.
Roxon said the reformed primary
health system would provide better
coordination meaning that the
mentally ill are “less likely to
fall through the gaps in the system”.
The announcement has been
welcomed by some parts of the
mental health community, but met
with skepticism by others who have
questioned how much is actually
new funding.
A key mental health adviser to
the govt, John Mendoza, quit
earlier this year claiming the
ALP had “no vision or commitment”.
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