House debates Questions without Notice

Mental Health

Thursday, 25 May 2017 House of Representatives

Rebekha Sharkie

Rebekha Sharkie Mayo, Nick Xenophon Team

2:18 pm

My question is to the Minister for Health. The NDIS will support approximately 58,000 of the 489,000 Australians who have severe mental illness. That is just 12 per cent of those diagnosed, leaving 88 per cent of Australians who have a diagnosis of severe mental illness without NDIS support. By 1 July 2019 a number of mental health support services will be defunded, including Partners in Recovery and Mental Health Respite: Carer Support. How can $80 million in the budget from 2018-19 for community mental health services adequately support the remaining 88 per cent of Australians who have a severe mental illness?

Greg Hunt

Greg Hunt Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for Health

2:19 pm

I thank the member for Mayo for her question, and I hope, in good faith that, when the time comes for a vote in this House on the Medicare levy to support full funding of the NDIS, she will support full funding and not repeat Labor's mistake of short-changing the NDIS. I hope that when the time comes in the Senate her colleagues will support full funding for the NDIS.

In relation, in particular, to psychosocial services: I deeply respect the question; however, I have to correct, respectfully, a number of errors. Firstly, approximately $4.2 billion is being allocated by the government this year and in successive years to mental health. That includes activities under Medicare, under the PBS, through our hospitals and through community mental health services. Approximately $700 million a year, or $3.5 billion over five years, will go to community mental health services. So that is a significantly greater figure than the $80 million that has been outlined.

However, that has been supplemented in this budget, as the member noted. The reason it has been supplemented is that in the original design of the NDIS there was a flaw. That flaw was that some of those who were outside the NDIS would miss out on psychosocial services. Psychosocial services are in addition to the clinical services; they are support for those with severe mental health conditions to be able to go about their day-to-day lives.

That gap was real, and it was something which was identified in a meeting with the Prime Minister and me by people such as Professor Pat McGorry, Professor Ian Hickie, Jackie Crowe from the National Mental Health Commission and others. In response to the points that they raised, we responded with an additional $80 million, which both the Prime Minister and the Treasurer themselves championed. I really want to acknowledge and thank them for their work. That $80 million will go directly to providing additional services over and above the current community mental health services and over and above that which will be developed within the NDIS. It is part of a broad $173 million package which we laid out only two weeks ago in the budget for additional mental health services, including youth suicide, mental health research and dealing with suicide hotspots—fundamentally important things.

All of this, though, is predicated on a working, fully funded NDIS. We have addressed the gap outside, which is why it was welcomed by Professor McGorry and Ian Hickie, but we have also addressed the gap inside the NDIS. So I repeat what I said at the beginning of this answer: I hope that the member, along with all of those in her party, will not make Labor's mistake of short-changing the NDIS. There is a chance for every member of this House to support a fair and equitable National Disability Insurance Scheme. (Time expired)

Hansard source

Bianco Salsano: TO THE HONOURABLE THE SPEAKER AND THE MEMBERS My concerns as a ADHD BP1 Australian under the DDA and the implications that I have had to face falling under the derogatory, stigmatic dogmatic discriminating issues that adults such as myself with ADD, ADHD, Autism, Bi-polar and other relative mental dispositions have had to face when it comes to the legal assistance process. Its simply non existent. Disability as we Australians assume is obviously "noticeable" to the eye. You can either see a persons disablement by way of "wheel" chair and so on. However, with mental illness that is some cases is more painfully absorbing because the reality is no one can physically see it, so therefore its construed as minor. Well I'd like to say that there is a strong presence within the social media world today of more and more cases of minor children being diagnosed with mental illnesses and the growing alarm for our health system to impede on the schooling and employment system to make necessary adjustments is important. However what about the people that have suffered misdiagnosis? Such as my self? I have had to live an uncomfortable quality of life because I was not carefully assessed by doctors or even that of the systems that were there at the times pointed to the incorrect theory of me being simply "overly energized" and "troublesome". Now, I know of a large group of ADHD diagnosis adults that have had major implications in there quality of life leading them to where they are now. Mind you the ones that were able to refrain from being locked up in prison and avoid being buried young have along with myself some tel-tail signs of gruesome upbringings and unjustified discrimination. Again, I bring my matter back to the core issue here which is legal assistance within the area of mental health however targeted for mental health... Continue reading

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