Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists NT Chair calls for funding to bolster staff

Territorians are stuck in a mental health service desert, with just one psychiatrist for every 45,000 sqkm. See why doctors are warning that NT’s mental health system will ‘continue to fail’.

NT branch of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists chair David Chapman. Picture: David Johns

Doctors on the frontline of the Northern Territory’s mental health crisis have called for urgent funding to boost their workforce and provide support to more people in need.

The latest Australian Institute of Health and Welfare data has revealed the Territory has the lowest number of psychiatrists in the country, with only 11 psychiatrists per 100,000 people.

The AIHW found in 2023 the NT had a total of just 30 registered psychiatrists – an average of one specialist for every 45,000 sqkm.

It marked a drop from the 12.5 psychiatrists per 100,000 people in 2019.

This is despite the Territory having the second highest rate of people suffering from a lifetime mental disorder, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, and a suicide rate almost twice the national average.

The latest AIHW data showed the NT had the smallest mental health workforce across the board, with 177 mental health nurses, 189 psychologists, only 20 occupational therapists, and 28 accredited mental health social workers.

However the Territory’s 40 consumer workers meant the region had the fourth highest number of lived experience peer workers in specialised mental health care facilities, behind only Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria.

The NT branch of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists has appealed to all parties to commit to adequately fund the Territory’s mental health system.

“Without urgent and sustainable investment to grow the numbers of psychiatrists, psychologists, mental health nurses, allied health practitioners and many others, the system will continue to fail,” RANZCP NT chair David Chapman said.

“We are seeing the devastating consequences of this on individuals, families and communities at the front lines.

“This is not just a mental health or a health issue – it has serious social and economic implications and costs.”

Dr Chapman pushed for the expansion of community mental health services, particularly outside major urban areas stating that “the mental health crisis is exacerbated as you go farther from the city centre”.

“For some people in the most remote parts of the Territory, there is virtually no mental health care available,” he said.

Indeed, the latest NT Health annual report flagged that the due to staffing gaps the service had missed its target for both adults and children receiving non-admitted public mental health services and community follow-up within first seven days of mental health inpatient discharge.

“The variation in 2022-23 reflects clinical staffing shortages particularly for remote area clinics and in specialist disciplines,” it said.

The Community Visitor Program, NT Mental Health Coalition, and NT Lived Experience Network have also called for greater workforce investment, alongside more sub-acute services and safe spaces, funding for an lived experience peak body, a new Mental Health Act and for a Minister for Mental Health and Well Being.

Originally published as Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists NT Chair calls for funding to bolster staff