Mark Butler (Port Adelaide, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Mental Health and Ageing) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Bass for his question. For months now Australians have been saying that they want their nation to do better in mental health. The Prime Minister has said, 'For the nation to do better, we need to do more as a national government.' This budget delivers on the Prime Minister's commitment to make mental health reform a priority for this term of government. The budget delivers the largest ever mental health reform package with over $2.2 billion in new measures, including more than $1.5 million announced last night and more than $600 million announced over the course of the last 12 months. Combined with our additional investments in mental health subacute beds through the Health and Hospitals Fund and in the psychiatric workforce, the total commitment by the Gillard government in mental health tops $2.5 billion over five years.

We have listened closely to the voices of millions of Australians who live with mental illness and their families, their carers and, of course, the experts. This package takes action on their advice and I am glad to report it has been warmly welcomed across the sector and across the broader community. The package recognises the diverse impact of mental illness across a lifetime. It will build resilient kids. It will support teenagers dealing with the challenge of emerging mental illness. It will improve access to basic primary-care services for hard to reach groups across Australia and it will target—

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