Delivering on National Mental Health Reform

Priorities for investment

The Government's National Mental Health Reform package includes the following key Budget initiatives over five years:

• $571 million to expand services and provide a single point of contact for people with severe mental illness to coordinate clinical and social support services;
• $492 million for prevention and early intervention mental health services for children and young people;
• $220 million to improve access to the primary health care system for people with mental illness; and

• $201 million for a new National Partnership to help guide reform at a State level.

Expanding effective programs

The mental health package will direct new funding towards expanding effective programs, such as:

• 30 new headspace sites, to achieve national coverage of 90 sites across the country; and
• building on 2010‑11 Budget funding to establish up to a total of 16 Early Psychosis Prevention and Intervention Centres (EPPIC).

It will also direct funding to achieve more coordinated services, such as ensuring that, for the first time, patients with severe and debilitating mental

illness have one contact point for all of their clinical and social care needs.

A National Mental Health Commission

The Government has also allocated $32 million over five years, including $12 million in new funding, to establish a new, independent National Mental Health Commission that will report in the Prime Minister's portfolio.

This Commission's core function will be to independently monitor, assess and report on how the system is performing.

This will increase accountability and transparency in the mental health system and give national prominence to mental health issues.