Easier Labor: Free mental health support for new parents
The Albanese Government will spend $16.7m on eight peri-natal mental health centres nationwide in a bid to give families vital support between pregnancy and a baby’s first birthday.
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New mums and dad will get free mental health support before and after the birth of their child under Labor’s $17 million election promise to help Australian parents adjust to life with children.
Post-natal depression is a common experience for many parents, affecting up to one in five new mums and one in ten new dads, while thousands of people experience anxiety in the first year of having a baby.
The Albanese Government has pledged $16.7m to open eight new peri-natal mental health centres across the country in a bid to give families vital support between pregnancy and the baby’s first birthday.
Health Minister Mark Butler said becoming a parent was a profound change and for many parents it was understandably overwhelming.
“These Peri-natal Mental Health Centres will provide families needing that extra support for free,” he said.
Mr Butler will make the announcement in Brisbane electorate of Griffith, where Labor is hoping star candidate Renee Coffey will be able to defeat first-term Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather.
Ms Coffey, prior to her political candidacy, was the chief executive at the Australian Kookaburra Kids Foundation — a mental health service dedicated to helping young people aged between 8 and 18 who are living in a family impacted by mental illness.
The new peri-natal commitment is on top of 12 centres funded by Labor in 2022, of which six are open and six more will be open by June 2026.
The new centres would be operated by Gidget Foundation Australia, a not-for-profit that support the emotional wellbeing of expecting and new parents.
Gidget Foundation Australia chief executive Arabella Gibson said peri-natal depression and anxiety impacts more than 100,000 Australian parents each year.
She said new funding would “provide much needed specialist support for more parents when they need it most”
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Originally published as Easier Labor: Free mental health support for new parents
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