ACT Division of General Practice (ACTDGP) welcomes the Federal Government’s budget announcement of increased funding for mental health.
ACTDGP President Dr Rashmi Sharma said investing in National Mental Health Reform will help reduce the burden of mental health issues in our community.
Following the announcement of last year’s budget, Australian of the Year 2010 Professor Patrick McGorry expressed publicly his disappointment that Australia had allocated only 6 per cent of the health budget to mental health despite the large number of Australians affected by psychological conditions.
“We welcome the Government’s commitment to mental health, which has vastly improved from last year. ACTDGP is pleased to see the Government has allocated an additional $1.5b to mental health over the next 5 years, including investing $419.7 million to expand the very successful headspace centres and Early Psychosis Prevention and Intervention Centres pioneered by Professor McGorry,” Dr Sharma said.
Last financial year 12.1% of all GP consultations involved managing their patients for a psychological problem (BEACH 2009/10). The most common psychological problem managed was depression.
“GPs are often the first point of contact for mental health issues and are a key provider of mental health services. Therefore general practice is pleased with the increased support for the treatment of mental health problems in primary care. It is particularly pleasing to see that the Gillard Government has doubled the investment in the Access to Allied Psychological Services (ATAPS) program which will enable GPs to refer more patients to receive services from psychologists.” Dr Sharma said.
“It is well known that the impact of mental illness within the Australian population has become increasingly apparent. The 2007 National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics found that 20% of Australians had a mental disorder in the twelve months prior to the survey".
“We look forward to working with the Government to implement the new programs in the ACT,” Dr Sharma said.
For more information please phone Roz Lemon on 0417 179 314 or email
media@actdgp.asn.au.