Monique Ryan (Kooyong, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Griffith for raising this very important issue. Almost one in two Australians experience mental illness in their lifetimes. While young people are disproportionately affected by poor mental health, people from all ages can have it, and all of them deserve and should receive support and treatment. But Australia's mental health system is marked by fragmentation and inequity, and we have a government which last week neglected health entirely at its economic roundtable.

Mental Health Australia and the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling have found that communities with the highest mental health needs in this country—those in regional and remote areas, low-income households and single-parent families—are often the most underserved by services. Public mental health services typically respond only to high-risk cases. There are only 58 acute adolescent mental health inpatient beds in Victoria; only four of those are in regional settings. Headspace is a trusted entry point for young Australians, but analyses of its model are unfortunately quite underwhelming, and it doesn't cover the missing middle—those young people who are too sick for headspace but not sick enough for hospital care. The Albanese government has halved the number of psychology sessions funded under the Better Access scheme. It has not yet replaced those services.

In 2023, an analysis of psychosocial supports outside the NDIS found that more than 490,000 Australians with moderate and severe mental health needs weren't getting the support that they needed. That's more than the population of the ACT. Last year, the National Mental Health Commission found that one in five Australians had delayed or avoided seeking mental health care because of its cost. Australians living with mental health challenges experience social disadvantage, unstable housing, isolation and poor physical health, which impacts their ability to function, to care for themselves and to participate in society. Those individuals deserve support, dignity and understanding, but the last NDIS report found that applicants with a psychosocial disability were accepted to the NDIS only 23 per cent of the time, compared to 79 per cent across all disability types.

The Productivity Commission has found that mental ill-health costs our economy $220 billion a year. This is a false economy. If we can support someone with mild or moderate mental illness early, we will prevent their progression to a psychosocial disability. If we support those with a disability adequately, we can keep them in the community, not in an emergency department or in a psychiatric facility. We need more than investment; we need integration. We need reform that connects our health, mental health and disability systems. We need to respond to that unmet need report. We need to deliver foundational supports and community mental health services, and we have to land meaningful, effective NDIS reform.

I speak in support of the many mental health advocates who are urging the federal government to coordinate a whole-of-government response to the mental health crisis. This has to include investment in early intervention, especially in schools and in primary care settings. It should guarantee timely and affordable access to mental health care by boosting funding and training for community based services, and it should include better integration across public and private sectors. We should establish targets, conduct robust evaluations and adapt our programs based on that evidence. We should ensure culturally safe care, particularly for Indigenous communities, and we have to bolster education and training of our mental health workforce. We have too few psychologists and psychiatrists, but we're not yet addressing those workforce shortages with clear and substantial policy commitments.

Since the creation of the NDIS, many state based mental health and early intervention services have disappeared. Too many people—far too many people—are falling through the cracks. We have an urgent need for a more equitable and integrated mental health care system which addresses both financial and geographic barriers to mental health care for Australians of all ages. Only through systemic reform and sustained investment can Australia build a mental health care system that truly meets the needs of its people.

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