AICAFMHA:
promoting mental health for young Australians
Australian Infant, Child, Adolescent and Family Mental Health Association Ltd
ABN 87 093 479 022
Back to AICAFMHA Homepage / News in Brief Index / Issue #3.06
Date 10 April 2003
Embargoed until 10.00AM 11 April 2003
media release
SANE Australia
A national charity helping those affected by mental illness through campaigning, education
and research
Australia?s mentally ill, missing out
SANE Australia supports the Mental Health Council of Australia?s (MHCA) call for action after the release of a report illustrating, yet again, Australia?s ailing mental health services, in desperate need of ?real? reform to address ?grossly unmet needs?.
The MHCA?s report, ?Out of Hospital, Out of Mind!?: A Review of Mental Health Services in Australia 2003? (launched 11 April) consulted widely with consumers, carers and the mental health workforce. As a result the Council is calling for action to increase mental health funding to 12 per cent (a 5 per cent increase) of the total health budget, increased accountability and leadership, and a stop to human rights? abuses and neglect of people affected by mental illness ? supporting and adding further weight to the findings of the SANE Mental Health Report 2002-03.
Barbara Hocking, SANE?s Executive Director and board member of the MHCA, said: ?While there is no shortage of rhetoric, this has not been matched by serious political commitment or adequate funding. Amidst increasing demand, rising costs and stagnant budgets, sadly, too many Australians with a mental illness continue to be neglected, missing out on basic mental health services and facing unjustifiable human rights? abuses.?
As the Federal Government calls for submissions on the Third Mental Health Plan 2003-2005, following two stages of the National Mental Health Strategy, it?s clear, according to Ms Hocking, there has been very little ?real? progress.
It is estimated that an alarming 62 per cent of Australians with a mental disorder are not receiving treatment and those who are, often receive too little, too late. Eighty per cent of people with a psychiatric disability are receiving inadequate treatment and no support to recover.
The stark inequities of the current system mean that while mental health problems constitute 20 per cent of health service need, they receive only 6.8 per cent of the Australian health budget.
SANE Australia is committed to the values of The SANE Charter for ?a better life for those affected by mental illness?: an end to stigma, access to effective treatment, support for recovery in the community, and help for families and carers. The SANE Charter is supported by more than 100 prominent Australians including Barry Humphries, Dawn Fraser and Peter Garrett, and currently has close to 20 000 concerned Australians as signatories.
Back to AICAFMHA Homepage / News in Brief Index / Issue #3.06
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