A re-elected Labor government would invest $1 billion into mental health services across Australia, in what the nation’s peak mental health body has labelled a “landmark investment.”
The commitment includes $225 million to deliver 21 new Medicare Mental Health Centres and upgrade 10 centres across the country, many of those in regional centres.
There would also be $200 million to expand Headspace services, $500 million for Youth Specialist Care Centres and $90 million to train 1,200 new mental health professionals.
The announcement forms a critical pillar in what Prime Minister Anthony Albanese describes as Labor’s plan to “strengthen Medicare”, outspending the coalition on youth mental health, as the leaders prepare for their first election-campaign debate in Sydney on Tuesday night.
“I want everyone, and especially young people, to be able to access the mental health care they need,” Albanese said.
CEO of Mental Health Australia Carolyn Nikoloski said the package “will fundamentally increase access to free mental health support across the country” while Headspace CEO Jason Trethowan said the commitments would “provide support to more young people.”
Nikoloski said “It also responds to some of the real pressures the sector is facing, by growing the pipeline of the mental health workforce, so that we can better respond to the community’s mental health needs, both now and into the future.”
‘Labor has failed Australians’ on mental health
One of Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s first campaign commitments was $6.2 million to upgrade headspace Melton, in Melbourne’s western suburbs.
“It is only a Dutton Coalition Government who will address the youth mental health crisis,” he said.
“Last year, a quarter of young Australians delayed or avoided seeking professional support for their mental health needs because they just could not afford it.
“Labor has failed Australians when it comes to mental health, but we are committed to turning that around.”
Mental health was a key focus of Opposition leader’s Budget reply speech, where he pledged $400m for youth mental health services – and to expand the National Centre for Excellence in Youth Mental Health, which he established as health minister in 2014.
Dutton also pledged to permanently double Medicare-subsidised psychologist sessions from 10 to 20 per year, which Labor has not matched.
Health Minister Mark Butler said that would only “repeat the mistakes of the past.”
“You can’t double the number of sessions without doubling the number of psychologists, or you create a bottleneck that means tens of thousands of Australians get no help at all,” he said.
Labor has so far campaigned almost exclusively on health, claiming the Coalition would not honour its bipartisan commitment to invest $8.5bn into Medicare, something Dutton has labelled “misinformation.”
The Coalition has pledged to invest $9 billion into health, which includes its mental health policy.
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