AUSTRALIA’S top mental health groups say a funding crisis is forcing services to wind down and staff to quit.
THE groups have written to Prime Minister Tony Abbott seeking urgent action to ensure community-based mental health services have the money they need to continue operating.
The groups, including Suicide Prevention Australia, SANE Australia, and the Black Dog Institute, say hundreds of contracts funded by the federal health department are due to end on June 30. But services have been given no advice about what will happen after that and some are already winding back services and contemplating staff cuts, with some workers having left their jobs already for more secure positions. “As yet we have not received any definitive advice regarding the future of programs,” the letter says. “Some agencies have indicated that without this advice, they will have to give staff notice of termination of employment in a matter of days.” The letter also warns the funding crisis is causing deep anxiety among their mental health patients. And while it notes the government is formulating its response to a national review of mental health services and programs, it warns the uncertainty cannot continue.