Federal Election 2022: Mental Health is the sleeper issue of the election

Billions of dollars are being spent on one massive issue but it’s a fraction of what’s needed and is going to all the wrong places, a leading group warns.

Eight in 10 Australians view mental health as an important guide to their election vote but election promises don’t go near enough to solving the crisis, a peak group warns.

Nearly one in three voters say they would consider changing their vote if a political party produced a comprehensive and actionable mental health vision and investment plan.

Mental Health Australia (MHA), the peak body representing mental health organisations across the country, commissioned the IPSOS survey of 1000 Australians to find out how important the issue was to voters.

The organisation is calling on whomever wins the election to invest in four key priorities to sustain momentum in mental health reform:

■ lived experience leadership;

■ government leadership and accountability;

■ co-designed implementation of a community focused mental health system; and,

■ the development of the mental health workforce.

MHA chair and tech entrepreneur Matt Berriman who lives with bipolar disorder said the Productivity Commission estimated mental health problems were costing the country, $70 billion dollars a year in lost productivity.

“Yet we’re spending a fraction on that to make it better,” Mr Berriman said.

Matt Berriman has been appointed chair of Mental Health Australia. Picture: Supplied

Labor had not promised anything of substance on mental health in the election campaign and the Coalition’s $2.6 billion spend was half the amount the National Productivity Commission found was needed, Mr Berriman said.

“There is definitely a fear in the sector that the money is being announced but not spent where it needs to be,” he said.

“What we haven’t seen is accountability and delivery of services … we want some transparency, where those services are delivered.”

There are 65,000 suicide attempts in Australia each year and it is the leading cause of death among males aged 25 to 44, he said.

Real life issues like financial distress and relationship breakdowns are triggers for mental break down. Picture: Getty

As someone who attempted to take his own life, Mr Berriman welcomed a Coalition plan to ensure every person who attempted suicide would get an after care follow up plan.

“I went through 15 different types of medication and had shock therapy. I’ve been in public and private hospital. I’ve kind of gone through a lot, so I do understand it,” he said.

However, improvements to mental health would not happen if we just concentrated spending more on medical care because real life issues like financial distress and relationship breakdowns were the trigger for mental break down,” he said.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt. Picture: Getty

A massive shortage of mental health nurses and psychiatrists and psychologists has seen people waiting over 12 weeks to get access to care and there was “definitely a workforce gap that needs to be solved,” he said.

Labor had a plan to provide $12,000 to students who wanted to study education and that should be extended to those who wanted to study nursing, psychology and psychiatry, Mr Berriman said.

More must be done to build up mental health services in local communities to prevent people going to hospital and stop them being discharged from hospital into homelessness, he said.

Health Minister Greg Hunt has said under the Coalition investment in mental health and suicide prevention had more than doubled, growing from $3.3 billion to an estimated $6.8 billion in the 2022–23 Budget.

During the election campaign the Coalition has announced a series of Head to Health centres around the country and outlined extra spending on suicide prevention.

Labor’s has promised to restore affordable telehealth psychiatric consultations for people living in regional and rural Australia, reversing cuts made by the government.

It has also pledged to fund a National Nurse and Midwife Health Service to bolster the resilience of these workers burnt out by the Covid pandemic.

Originally published as Federal Election 2022: Mental Health is the sleeper issue of the election