source : the age
A major review of the state’s mental health system and the billion-dollar levy used to fund it, along with an overhaul of youth services and the creation of a specialist standalone facility, are part of a sweeping election pledge aimed at improving Victoria’s struggling sector.
The Coalition will on Tuesday announce a “mental health reset” if elected in November, promising separate reviews into the Mental Health and Wellbeing Levy, the sector’s independent watchdog and the state’s lagging delivery of its royal commission and commitments.
Within 100 days of being elected, a new strategy to boost the mental health workforce would be created and supported with a targeted $50 million fund to fill skills and staffing gaps. They will also commit to developing a world-leading Youth Mental Health Centre of Excellence overseen by Orygen, as well as commit $5 million to masterplan a new standalone youth mental health hospital in Parkville.
A months-long investigation by The Age has exposed a series of systemic problems plaguing Victoria’s mental health system, more than five years after the state government accepted every recommendation handed down by the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System in 2021.
These reports have laid bare a system in crisis and a watchdog stripped of the ability to oversee it. Revelations have included two recent youth suicide clusters, services failing to meet their targets for admitting acutely mentally unwell patients, escalating violence against workers, and the resignation of the fly-in, fly-out boss of the state’s flagship youth mental health service.
Whistleblowers have also sounded the alarm that efforts to fix the system, as promised in 2021, are being abandoned or falling behind.
Responding to these concerns, opposition mental health spokeswoman Emma Kealy will outline the Coalition’s agenda, which will include auditing the $1.2 billion Mental Health and Wellbeing Levy introduced to fund reforms in Victoria amid concerns it is not being used as intended.
An independent review would also assess how Victoria is implementing the royal commission’s recommendations, which relies on the government to assess its own progress.
The watchdog set up to monitor the system and the state’s reforms, the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission (MHWC), would also be assessed and given stronger powers, remit and greater independence.
The move comes after The Age revealed a trove of internal documents detailing the Labor government had hobbled the MHWC to such an extent it can no longer effectively monitor the mental health sector or properly track implementation of the royal commission recommendations.
But the centrepiece of the Coalition’s plan is a proposed overhaul of the state’s youth mental health system, including the creation of a Youth Mental Health Centre of Excellence intended to bring together the best research, clinical expertise and innovation to improve the care young people receive across Victoria.
Planning for a standalone 50-bed Parkville youth mental health hospital to serve Melbourne’s northwest and sections of regional Victoria would also get the green light, with design and detailed costing to be completed by June 2030.
“For a young person struggling with their mental health, the system shouldn’t be a maze. They shouldn’t have to become sicker before they qualify for help, and their parents shouldn’t be left desperately ringing service after service trying to find someone who can help,” Kealy told The Age.
“The Youth Mental Health Centre of Excellence will help build a system around young people, from prevention and early intervention through to specialist treatment, acute care, housing and recovery.”
Orygen executive director Professor Pat McGorry said in Melbourne’s northeast, an area with more than two million people, there are just 16 youth mental health beds.
McGorry said collectively, the promises could make a huge impact, with the creation of a centre of excellence allowing specialists to galvanise and reform the state’s approach to youth care.
“Victoria is in the grip of a youth mental health crisis and has so far failed to respond to this effectively. The commitments announced today represent a major step forward in tackling this crisis,” he said.
“Mandating Orygen to become the Victorian Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health will enable a collaborative learning health system to flourish across the state within all state health services and will work to ensure that all young Victorians can access high-quality evidence-based care when, where, and for as long as they need it.”
The Coalition has also committed to reforming governance at Parkville Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing Service after its CEO Dr Leanne Geppert resigned in August – one day after The Age revealed she was leading the state’s flagship youth mental health service on a fly-in, fly-out basis from Brisbane.
Alongside sweeping reviews of the current system, the opposition has promised to publish a new blueprint on how to reform the mental health sector that will outline funding and timelines for when promises will be delivered.
“Five years after the royal commission, too many Victorians are still waiting too long, travelling too far or reaching crisis point before they can get the mental health care they need,” Kealy said.
“Our mental health reset is about fixing those fundamental problems – finding out what has and hasn’t been delivered, where the money has gone, rebuilding the workforce and restoring accountability to the system.”
If you or anyone you know needs support, call Lifeline on 13 11 14, or Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636.
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