Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Eating disorders are one of the hardest mental illnesses to treat and they are the most lethal. We're providing $70 million of additional funding for innovative programs to treat mental ill-health and eating disorders, improve services, educate health professionals and support patients and their families and carers. The Butterfly Foundation will receive nearly $3 million for a recovery support program for patients who've been discharged from hospital, which will be delivered virtually, while the University of Sydney's InsideOut Institute's e-clinic will receive funding of $4 million to make effective, evidence based care and treatment available digitally to people with an eating disorder. Both of those are regardless of where people live. Headspace centres will have eating disorder treatment embedded in them, and a digital GP hub operating out of the University of Sydney will help address the knowledge gap that people consistently report about their interactions with GPs.

We know there has been a decline in the mental health of children and a rise in self-harm and eating disorders, so better research is vital. A significant part of this investment goes towards funding vital research projects on children's mental health, finding ways to improve access to evidence based treatments and their delivery and to address the inequalities in treating childhood mental health. I'm very proud to be part of an Albanese government committed to a better future for children with eating disorders and their families.