Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mental health reform is critically important to our nation's social and economic success. Reform of the mental health system is desperately needed and seems to have been forgotten by this government. As the chair of Mental Health Australia, Matt Berriman said today:

With one in five of us impacted by a mental health condition each year, why is mental health not a national priority and getting the attention of our prime minister?

My community have felt acutely the government's inaction on mental health, such as the government not funding the Lilydale Youth Hub and causing it to close down. Medicare funded psychology sessions have been cut in half. The Labor government voted for the cuts last year, despite amendments from the coalition seeking to maintain the status quo. On page 328 of the University of Melbourne's main report of the evaluation of the Better Access initiative, it says:

On balance, the evidence from the evaluation suggests that the additional 10 sessions should continue to be made available …

I'm proud to be part of a coalition that will reinstate these 20 sessions to support Australians to be the best that they can be. It's time this Prime Minister started supporting Australians in need.