Nick Champion (Wakefield, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Mental Health and Ageing. Will the minister outline the progress of the government's mental health reform package in delivering services to improve the lives of people living with a mental illness? What other approaches are there and what consequences would these have?

Honourable Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The unnecessary highlighting of things that are being mentioned by way of interjection I do not think is really helpful, if people really think about it.

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

I thank the member for Wakefield for his question. This year's budget delivered on the Prime Minister's commitment on mental health is $2.2 billion in new measures—the largest ever mental health package in this country's history. Last week's COAG meeting heard a presentation from three members of the government's expert working group—Professor Patrick McGorry, Monsignor Cappo and Frank Quinlan—on mental health reform. I am pleased to report that COAG has agreed to conclude a new national partnership agreement on mental health by the end of this year. It focuses on accommodation supports and emergency department arrangements in particular.

Meanwhile, states have been provided with our population modelling for future headspace sites for their comment to allow us to be in a position this calendar year to announce the next tranche of 15 headspace services. Discussions are also proceeding with state governments about our plans to roll out early psychosis centres or EPPICs with their support in their jurisdictions, and funding has started to flow to support up to 1,700 additional primary schools to take up the Kids Matter program to help kids build resilience and coping skills at that critical age

Divisions of general practice and new Medicare Locals are receiving huge increases in funding, to the tune of 87 per cent, to deliver counselling services to hard to reach groups in the population, including people identified at risk of suicide.

Unlike the opposition's policy in this area, which delivered not a jot for children and not a jot for adults experiencing mental illness, our package recognises the diverse impact of mental illness across the lifespan. Importantly in these challenging economic times, our package is properly costed and fully funded. The approach of the opposition, which I was asked about by the member for Wakefield, was essentially to say: 'If you want better mental health services in this country, we need to keep the broader health system back in the 20th century.' To pay for a policy that would deliver nothing for children and nothing for adults experiencing mental illness, the opposition would have junked e-health entirely, as the Minister for Health and Ageing has pointed out, leaving the broader health system instead to work on paper files forever. They would have trashed pricing reforms in the hospital system to deliver more efficient hospital services. Instead, they would have kept sending blank cheques to state governments every year. They would have withdrawn $350 million of funding for better GP infrastructure in local communities, and more. In total there would have been $1.4 billion of cuts to fund their mental health package. I note that is just one-fiftieth of the $70 billion of cuts that the now absent member for North Sydney has planned for our health services, our schools and our broader social services if he gets his way.

The opposition's approach in this area is wrongheaded and it is fanciful. The COAG meeting last week confirmed that you can have mental health reform and broader health reform and you should have both.