Victorian Government adds further funding for mental health

The Victorian Government will follow its federal counterpart with $60 million in funding to help an increasing battle with mental health issues brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the Department of Health and Human Services, the past six weeks has seen a near 10 per cent increase in hospital admissions due to self harm, with the rate of admission for young people increasing by 33 per cent from the same time in 2019.

Victoria has also seen a near 25 per cent increase in people presenting with mental health issues at hospital, while there has been a near 30 per cent rise in telephone mental health support.

Mr Walsh welcomed the announcement, though he believes regional Victorians have been overlooked.

“If this funding doesn’t mean there will be more feet on the ground across regional Victoria, not just people at the end of a phone in Melbourne, the people of regional Victoria will have been short-changed again,” Mr Walsh said.

“Regional and rural people need this support, but they need a genuine connection, a place they can go to actually see someone rather than a different voice on the phone whenever they call.”

Mr Walsh said adding new Hospital Outreach Post-suicidal Engagement sites and more beds, which were mostly metropolitan, did not help regional Victoria, because the distance was always a challenge and often left people without family support.

He said the details revealed with the new funding still left enormous black holes across regional areas.

“I am also concerned the government cites Geelong, Bendigo and Ballarat as regional — these are massive cities, all within an hour of Melbourne and all its services and support. We need similar facilities in eastern Gippsland, in northern Victoria and the Mallee,” Mr Walsh said.

“That’s the heart of ‘regional’ Victoria.”

The funding will be spent on community mental healthcare, as well as to provide counselling for nurses and healthcare workers.

The funding will also allow mental health clinics to remain open for longer hours and to operate seven days a week.

“This whole mental health package is about telling people we value them — your existence, your role in the community, your life is important,” Victorian Mental Health Minister Martin Foley said.

“The pandemic is stressful. The pandemic has seen anxiety and depression levels rise substantially, but there is help out there, there is support.

"We knew running into this global pandemic that our mental health system wasn't fit for purpose.

“And that's why we've held, or we're holding, Australia's first royal commission into our mental health system to make sure that people get the support where they need it in a timely way.”

The Federal Government announced last week it would be spending $12 million on mental health funding, including creating an extra 10 Medicare-subsidised counselling sessions to allow for 20 a year.