The SA Budget released yesterday included a small amount of new investment relevant to mental health.
The key items :
$13.9m over five years to expand the Mental Health Co-Responder Program to cover all of the Adelaide metropolitan area.
$2.5m for ‘essential, on-the-ground mental health resources and supports for individuals and communities affected by the drought’
There were, of course, also ongoing or previously announced commitments in the Budget papers such as more mental health beds and the new Mt Barker Hospital.
We welcome the new mental health investments announced in the budget but note that they primarily are focused on supporting people in crisis not supporting people to avoid crisis.
By doing this the Malinauskas Government is choosing to ignore its own Unmet Needs Report that shows investing $125m per annum will enable 19000 South Australians with severe mental illness to get the support they need and reduce their reliance on already overstretched crisis and emergency services.
Its nearly two years since the SA Report on Unmet need was released and so far the Malinauskas Government has allocated less than 2% of what is required.
It’s a choice for the Malinauskas Government not to invest in preventing crisis. This is an unsustainable approach to mental health.
In terms of fixing the mental health system – this State Budget was a disappointment.
Watch my budget analysis
.
Minister Picton has another opportunity address this gap next week when he meets with his counterparts across the country and nationally. Together with our counterparts across the country, we have jointly written an open letter to the State and Commonwealth Ministers asking them to commit to fund the unmet need over the next five years.
Let’s hope we are not disappointed again next week. The meeting is on Friday 13th – unlucky for some….
You can read SACOSS’ budget analysis here.
Geoff Harris
