Parliamentary inquiry to be held into Queensland’s broken mental health system

A parliamentary inquiry into mental health services in Queensland falls short of what the sector has called for to fix the broken system, top psychiatrists say.

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath has announced a parliamentary inquiry into mental health services in Queensland, but it falls short of what the sector has called for to fix the broken system.

Following two days of The Courier-Mail’s Through the Cracks campaign, Ms D’Ath announced she would call a parliamentary inquiry into mental health in Queensland.

It came a day after she and Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk faced questioning on calls for the review but failed to announce one.

“The Palaszczuk Government knows we need to shine a light on mental health and better understand the need and demand pressures arising from Covid but also more generally across the mental health system in Queensland,” Ms D’Ath told the parliament on Tuesday morning.

“That is why the Palaszczuk Government will be establishing a parliamentary inquiry into mental health services in Queensland.

“We are confident that our parliament can play an important role in shaping the future of our mental health services in Queensland.”

Queensland Health Minister Yvette D'Ath. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Tertius Pickard

Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists Queensland chair Professor Brett Emmerson said he noted the announcement.

“It’s not what we were calling for but the terms of reference will be the all-important factor here,” he said.

Prof Emmerson and others, including Queensland’s Mental Health Commissioner Ivan Frkovic, want a year-long systemic review undertaken by Mr Frkovic that would take a specialist look at the system, determine where the gaps are, come up with new ways to bridge those gaps and determine exactly what the Queensland and Commonwealth funding shortfalls are.

Prof Emmerson said Queensland – Australia’s lowest funded jurisdiction per capita for mental health care – needed an estimated injection from the state government of about $750m a year.

Ms D’Ath said the Palaszczuk Government was in the process of finalising a new five-year plan for Queensland, which would be “informed by extensive stakeholder consultation and a needs analysis”.

“We are also currently negotiating with the Commonwealth to finalise a new national mental health and suicide prevention agreement and a five-year bilateral arrangement of state and Commonwealth government investment in mental health,” she said.

The Courier-Mail has called for a systemic review, immediate funding to bring Queensland into line with the spending of other states, and for a stand-alone mental health minister to bring a focus to the problems.