Cathy McGowan (Indi, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Health. Minister, the report of the National Review of Mental Health Programs and Services was provided to the government in December 2014 and, consequently, you established the Mental Health Expert Reference Group to report back to you by October 2015. Can you please tell that House how this is going and what are the plans that the government has to correct the fundamental structural shortcomings that exist in our mental health service, which particularly have impact for rural and regional Australians?

Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As Minister for Sport, I want to recognise the strong support in the chamber today for the Socceroos. Best wishes to Ange and the boys for their important game against Kyrgyzstan tonight at GIO Stadium here in Canberra. I will be there and I know many of you will be there in spirit.

I want to thank the member for Indi for her important question and reassure her that, following the National Mental Health Commission's review of mental health services—which certainly outlined a fragmented, a disorganised and, quite frankly, a failing system across Australia—$14 billion has been spent on mental health between the states and the territories but, interestingly, they have not demanded more money, such is the fragmented nature and the inability of that funding to reach the people who need help.

We took on board all of those recommendations. We, as the member said, appointed an expert reference group, led by Kate Carnell, to implement those. That implementation task force has reported to me and I can certainly say that in the next very little while, before the end of the year if not sooner, I will be announcing what I and this side of the House believe are significant, far-reaching and very important reforms on mental health. I want to highlight some of the sense of the approach we are taking and the things we have picked up from that report: the opportunity for digital engagement, the great advances that have been made in communicating via a self-help app, a digital gateway and counselling online—a lot of young people put their hands up and said that is a preferred method for them. If we know we can intervene early and get the right assistance for that cohort, we can save our resources for the people who need complex care later on in the cycle.

The important thing for consumers who live with mental health is that we listen to them and, as much as possible, allow them to influence the style of care they will get. We will be doing that very strongly. Community-based, localised and regional—this is not about Canberra giving solutions; this is not about Canberra designing a program that everyone then picks up. The Minister for Indigenous Affairs, for example, talked to me about the ability of Indigenous communities to receive urgent suicide help in the lead-up to the wet season, which is a particularly fragile time for many of them. If we look at that local approach, if we look at early intervention, if we manage what many in the sector call a stepped care model, we know we can provide the right help at the right time in the right way.