Submissions

QAMH Priorities for 2023 Federal Budget

Increase investment in the non-governmental community mental health and wellbeing sector to bridge the service gaps, in particular:

• the Primary Health Network’s low intensity mental health services focused on wellbeing and targeted at early intervention
• the Primary Health Network commissioned services which address the mental health needs of the Missing Middle, including those with moderate to severe symptoms who remain  ineligible for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)

Ensure Primary Health Network contracts are consistently five years in length and include indexation which accurately reflects the increased costs of business

Ensure the National Mental Health Workforce Strategy explicitly includes the community mental health workforce, including a plan to develop and grow this workforce and a mechanism to collect national data

In developing a wellbeing and progress framework for the nation, the Treasurer commits to:

• A whole-of-government approach where every minister is held accountable to the framework as part of their portfolio
• All new policy proposals to be assessed in terms of how they will impact agreed wellbeing indicators
• Mental health indicators that move beyond clinical diagnostic criteria to incorporate holistic, person-centric, psychosocial measures across multiple life domains
• A truly independent body administering the framework, with results to be broadly available to the public