Qld mental health system hit by decades of chronic underfunding

The state government has been accused of not taking chronic problems in the mental health system seriously, with one expert saying Queensland has the worst resourced mental health system in the country.

LESS money is invested in Queensland’s mental health system than any other state or territory in Australia, with decades of chronic underfunding meaning the state has the worst staffing levels and least amount of beds to service its population.

For 30 years Queensland has been at the bottom of the pack when it comes to mental heath funding – latest figures show the state is currently has the worst spend per capita in the country at $241 per person.

That’s compared to a national average of $257 per person during 2018–19 and well behind biggest spender for the same period – Western Australia who spent $325.43.

And in the past 10 years while Queensland’s health budget has grown by around 50 per cent the mental health budget has only increased by about five per cent.

For example, the entire operating budget for the Metro North Hospital and Health Service this year is $3.36 billion but just $220 million of that will be spent on mental health – a meagre 6.5 per cent.

Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists Queensland chair Professor Brett Emmerson said the system had been underfunded for 20 years.

“We’ve got the worst resourced mental health system in the country,” he said.

“The whole system is overwhelmed, it was just holding together and no more before Covid, but Covid has pushed it over the edge.”

Professor Brett Emmerson says Queensland’s mental health system needs an inject of about $750 per year.

Following the release of the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health system earlier this year, its government announced a $3.8bn overhaul to address the systemic failures.

A raft of recommendations were adopted by the government and included

To help pay for significant reforms businesses with a national payroll of between $10m and $100m will pay a 0.5 per cent surcharge on top of existing payroll tax in Victoria, while businesses with a national payroll of more than $100m will pay 1 per cent.

Professor Emmerson said a funding boost of about $750 million per year was necessary to be able to deliver the standard of mental health services Queenslanders deserved.

“We’ve been to see the health Minister so many times and it is clear there is no commitment to it,” he said.

“The Palaszczuk Government is not taking it seriously, they say we don’t have money but they have millions to throw around for an Olympics and football matches.”

A Queensland Health spokesperson said between 2016 and 2021, the State Government had committed more than $350 million to “implement a broad range of mental health, drug and alcohol initiatives”.

In 2018, the government committed a further $106 million over four years to expand community mental health, alcohol and other drug treatment services across the state.

“In the face of Covid-19, we have continued to prioritise a wide range of services across the state to support individuals and their families who required mental health treatment and care,” the spokesperson said.