Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Minister for Regional Communications) Share this | Hansard source

The drought mental health package will increase the availability of telehealth and virtual psychology services in the regions. This will be delivered with locals and charities on the ground.

When we think about the farmers who are fighting the drought, they're the ones that are at home listening to very hungry sheep and listening to very hungry cattle, not just all day but when they go to bed and when they wake up. The mental stress of that needs a response that is localised, tangible and accessible in the privacy of their own homes and in their own local communities and with the support of their local GPs.

We've made the changes to our drought mental health strategy to accommodate the fact that we need a local response, in particular for those communities. This is supported by our Primary Health Networks with $10 million to deliver the empowering our communities grant, which is going to provide $1 million to each of the affected local councils to find local solutions to empower, increase resilience and provide mental wellbeing programs.