Mental Health minister Shannon Fentiman vows accountability around $1.6bn levy spend

Mental Health Minister Shannon Fentiman has admitted that the Queensland government has not been ‘accountable and transparent’ on how a $1.6bn levy is being spent to address the state’s mental health crisis.

New Mental Health Minister Shannon Fentiman has admitted that the Queensland government has not been “accountable and transparent” on how a $1.6bn levy is being spent to address the state’s mental health crisis.

In a revealing interview, Ms Fentiman also conceded there was a critical shortage of mental health beds, particularly in regional areas, as she detailed her plans for tackling the myriad challenges Queenslanders face when trying to access ­appropriate mental health treatment.

Her priorities include resourcing busy emergency departments with mental health clinicians, boosting support for new families, better accommodating the deluge of people struggling with eating disorders and sending mental health workers on call-outs with ambos and police.

But Ms Fentiman acknowledged that to date it had not been made clear where additional funding from a $1.6bn levy on businesses over five years to fund mental health services was going.

“I’m very keen to make sure that we are very accountable and transparent to the community about how we’re spending this money from the levy,” she said.

Queensland’s Mental Health Minister Shannon Fentiman. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Tertius Pickard

Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick introduced the levy last year, to be paid by businesses with annual wage bills of more than $10m to help fund an additional $425m every year for mental health services.

The budget announcement came on the back of The ­Courier-Mail’s Through the Cracks campaign, which examined the state’s consistent mental health failings – including that the state was 500 mental health beds short.

It remains the case today.

Ms Fentiman acknowledged the severe shortage of dedicated mental health beds and pointed to new beds opening soon in Hervey Bay and Cairns.

“I do want to see more support for regional Queenslanders … 38 per cent of people in Queensland live in rural and remote regional areas. So when you see the spread of beds … obviously, we need to do more in rural and regional Queensland.”

Ms Fentiman is quick to point out the reality that opening beds across the state without the appropriate number of staff would be a pointless exercise and, arguably, the single biggest challenge she faces in her quest to “do better” is the critical shortage of skilled medical professionals.

The dearth of mental health workers across the country is affecting every profession, from psychiatrists, psychologists to mental health nurses and peer workers.

“We have to grow our own,” Ms Fentiman said.

“We’re offering free TAFE for the first time in a range of health courses … particularly the certificate 4 in mental health, the certificate 4 in mental health peer support.”

The government will also fund the certificate 3 and certificate 4 in allied health free diplomas of nursing to First Nations people and to people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

“We know our workforce, and particularly our mental health workforce, needs to reflect the community,” she said.

Since the much-touted levy announcement in the 2022/23 budget, Ms Fentiman has been made Health Minister as well as Mental Health Minister.

She says the portfolio “is incredibly important to me” and having it in her title made it clear the government is serious about mental health.

Ms Fentiman had been in the job less than a week when a 29-year-old man was shot dead by police in front of his family in May after he lunged at officers with a knife and pitchfork in Brisbane. “When the shooting occurred it really crystallised in my mind how much more we need to do in this space,” Ms Fentiman said.

Another area she wants her department to focus on is maternal mental health, to set families up for a “healthier, more fulfilling life”.

More than $100m of the levy will go to mental health services for new parents and infants.