The government must provide certainty for existing mental health programs in order to avoid an “unfolding potential catastrophe”, advocates have said in the lead-up to a planned forum with parliamentarians.
Ninety delegates from mental health organisations from across Australia will meet with politicians in Canberra on Wednesday.
Nearly 50 parliamentarians, including the health minister, Sussan Ley, and the social services minister, Scott Morrison, will attend. Labor, Greens, Palmer United party representatives and independent senators will also take part in the forum.
Advocates want the government to guarantee funding for 150 federally-run programs beyond 30 June, when funding is due to expire.
The executive director of the Mental Health Fellowship of Australia, David Meldrum, said the uncertainty was an “unfolding potential catastrophe” because it put thousands of jobs, and scores of services, at risk.
Mental health groups may not know the fate of the programs until the next federal budget is released.
“Governments of all persuasions like to keep their powder dry during the budget process,” the chief executive of Mental Health Australia, Frank Quinlan, said. “There is not a whole lot of fat in the mental health system that can be cut.”
Service providers have asked for funding certainty by the end of this month.
“We need to know what supports will replace those currently available to about 200,000 Australians and their families who struggle with the disabilities associated with serious mental illness,” Meldrum said.
It is understood that many of the existing commonwealth services will be wrapped into the national disability insurance scheme (NDIS) when the program has been rolled out nationally. Currently, each state and territory has a trial site for the scheme.
Meldrum said the commonwealth programs in place now “work extremely well, and we have heard no reason why these services should not continue, at least for a few years until the NDIS is fully developed”.
Advocacy groups will be calling on the federal government on Wednesday to create a 10-year plan to tackle mental health illness.
Quinlan said developing a long-term plan was “complex” and “not an easy sell” to make to politicians who were often concerned with issues that could be addressed during a three-year election cycle.
Advocacy groups will also press for the release of the National Health Commission’s report into mental health services. The report was issued to the government on 30 November.