Qld Budget 2022: Govt urged to put mental health funding into community-based care

Queensland’s Mental Health Commissioner has welcomed record $1.6 billion funding in the Budget, but says that’s just the start of what’s needed.

Queensland’s mental health boss has urged the State Government to invest its record funding into community-based care, including hospital-in-the-home services, as he warns the state’s stretched system needs more than just money.

Mental Health Commissioner Ivan Frkovic welcomed the “major” $1.6 billion funding injection, saying it would provide relief to strained mental health and alcohol and other drugs services.

But he said it would take some time for its effects to be felt as the system’s issues were far broader and more complex than the need for funding alone.

“The Government has made an unprecedented investment which we’ve never had before, but I think that money should really drive system change, because just by investing in more of the same, I’m not sure that’s going to give us a different result,” he said.

“Some of that system change… would be to really start to invest in community services both clinical and non-clinical.”

The Government this week revealed a 0.25 per cent mental health levy would be imposed on businesses with annual wages bills higher than $10 million.

For businesses with a bill larger than $100 million, their levy will be 0.5 per cent.

It will come into effect from January 1 next year.

It followed The Courier-Mail’s Through the Cracks campaign, which highlighted serious underfunding across the state’s mental health system.

The Mental Health Commissioner said early intervention and bed-based initiatives needed to be looked at – including hospital-in-the-home care.

“I would like to see priorities for hospital-in-the-home … because we won’t have the beds online that quickly,” he said.

“It would take some of the pressure off the under pressure hospitals and emergency departments.”

He said it was important community services were linked with Commonwealth investment and that he would like to see services improved in rural and regional areas.