Since 2006, Australian governments have committed to spending about $8 billion of new money on mental health, writes Dr Lesley Russell, a research associate at Menzies Centre for Health Policy.
Mental health
The unmet mental health needs of people with intellectual disability
Federal and state governments have recently recognised the importance of mental health reform, but the voice of mentally ill people with intellectual disabilities can barely be heard, writes Sophie Howlett.
Mind Games: what are the lessons from the mental health minefield?
What are the lessons learned on the hard road towards mental health reform? And amid all the debate, what does the future hold? The final chapter of Crikey’s four-part investigation into the vexed social and political issue.
Mind Games: Better Access for some, but reforms put others offside
Patrick McGorry and Ian Hickie may be considered revolutionaries by some, their headspace initiative and radical system reforms will come at a cost to some patients.
The psychological backlash against Hickie and McGorry
It’s not only psychologists at war over mental health reform — considerable vitriol is also being directed at the country’s most prominent psychiatrists, Ian Hickie and Pat McGorry. Crikey’s series on mental health reform continues.
Mind Games: the long road travelled on mental health reform
After years of neglect the federal government has shovelled billions of dollars into the mental healthcare system — but the debate on how best to spend it has just began. In the first of a four-part investigation Crikey surveys the long and bitter road towards reform.
The Baillieu Dump: lack of support groups impacts mental health issues
A lack of appropriate support networks can lead to mental health problems later in life, according to the Mental Health Review Board annual report, writes Gerard Pelly, a Swinburne University student.
Media briefs: AAP outsources to NZ … mental health and media … 5800 phone-hack victims …
In today’s Media Briefs: time for a campaign to tackle media framing of alcohol and other drug issues … Phone hacking: number of possible victims is almost 5800, police confirm … News Corp executive in New York resigns and more …
Media stigmatisation an ongoing public health hazard
Recent coverage of the ‘Bali teen’ caught with cannabis heralded a remarkably different approach for media outlets that continually imply drug dependant people are less human than the rest of us, writes Laurence Alvis.
Who wins when it comes to mandatory detention?
The idea that the indefinite detention of people in privately run prison-style facilities could ever be any other than antithetical good mental heath outcomes is highly problematic, writes Robin Cameron.
Video of the Day: Libya’s other crisis
Months of bombing and fighting has had a significant impact on mental illness in Libya, with dwindling medicine, rising rates of post-traumatic stress and not enough facilities to house the patients.
Using technology to help young people and ‘mental wealth’
Receiving quality mental health care at the right time is uncommon. Mental health can be both an economic and moral issue, and exciting technological possibilities exist with which it can be combated, writes Jane Burns.
Mental Health & Housing: vulnerable tenants ignored by department
Public housing tenants are taking matters into their own hands — and a recent ruling by the Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal could mean Housing NSW is legally liable if it ignores complaints about abusive, disruptive and dangerous tenants.
Mental health & housing: the public health crisis no one wants to know about
Mental health workers interviewed by the ACIJ say the conditions endured by mentally ill people in public housing are now a major public health problem, report Jacqueline Le, Michael Davis, Veronika Pitrová and Simona Suciu.
Benefits of health reform will be in decades ahead
The Government’s health reform package is far less than originally conceived, but it will deliver long-term benefits. The real beneficiaries will be the taxpayers of the next three decades.
Why trying to make your kids happy actually makes them miserable
Modern day parents are obsessed with propping up the self-esteem of their children and raising happy kids. But therapist Lori Gottlieb says that doesn’t explain why so many now-adults with happy childhoods are suffering anxiety and depression.
Mental health and the budget: positive steps but many gaps remain
Given the magnitude of the burden of mental illness and the scope and extent of needs in the mental health sector, the Gillard government’s significant down payment on new and expanded services can only be considered the beginning, writes Lesley Russell.
Parallels between mental health initiatives and portrayals in Australian film
This year there has been a striking — but completely unnoticed — correlation between the federal government’s mental health initiatives and the dominant theme in Australian films. Luke Buckmaster explains.
Mental health: PM, Butler get credit — are professions up to implementation?
Prime Minister Julia Gillard and her Mental Health Minister, Mark Butler, have been praised for their role in the budget’s mental health announcements.
Pobjie: welcome to the crumple zone
To say depression has only just wrapped me in its loving embrace would be wrong. I’ve been falling into that pit off and on for most of the last 20 years. But it was this year that everything came to a head, writes Ben Pobjie.
Health: $1.5b for more targeted mental health services
Mental health advocates finally have the big-ticket funding package they’ve long campaigned for, with a co-ordinated $2.2 billion suite of initiatives to support patients and identify those most at risk.
Deaths in custody: seven tragedies, seven cases of negligence
The tragic 2007 death of mentally ill prisoner Adam Douglas Shipley is just one of seven deaths linked through a chain of negligence, bureaucratic bungling and failed policies. Inga Ting continues her special investigation for Crikey.
Mental health: a continuing history of neglect
Chronic disease prevention is gathering increasing steam, at a national and international level. So why is mental health not part of this agenda? asks Richard Eckersley.
Moving beyond band-aid solutions for mental health
Federal Labor knows it must deliver a substantial boost to mental health funding come the May budget. But how much is required to fix our mental health services? John Mendoz explains.
healthcare Explaining the new blueprint to transform mental health services
The recently released Blueprint to Transform Mental Health Services in Australia is not the whole solution to fixing mental health. There are evidence-based services apart from those specified that would indeed merit ongoing investment, writes Sebastian Rosenberg and Professor Ian Hickie.
