Election plea to break ‘deep silence’ on mental health

Mental health expert Patrick McGorry has warned of a ‘deep silence’ on mental health issues ahead of the election.

Patrick McGorry. Picture: Orygen

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Leading mental health expert Patrick McGorry has warned of a “deep silence” on mental health issues ahead of the election and taken a veiled swipe at Labor’s pre-poll push on women’s health.

The former Australian of the year said that while Anthony ­Albanese’s half-a-billion-dollar investment in women’s health over the weekend was “fair enough”, it was increasingly clear those with mental illness were not being prioritised.

“Mark Butler announced all these women’s health policies and it’s clear (Labor) are very electorally focused on that 50 per cent of the population that are deciding whether to vote for them and that’s fair enough, but what about the six million Australia with mental illness?” he said. “A whole generation of people are being thrown on the scrap heap and it will end up hurting the country.”

The executive director of ­Orygen, which specialises in youth mental health, also pointed out the “asymmetry” between the funding commitments for people with mental illness compared to those with disability. “$40bn is spent on the 600,000 people on the NDIS, while $4bn is spent on six million people with mental illnesses,” Professor McGorry said.

“It seems every group but this one is being thought of. There’s a deep silence about mental illness.”

Labor’s $873m funding package, announced on Sunday, expands endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics, while also adding a range of new contraceptives and hormone therapies for menopausal women to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

However, the government has faced pressure over a lack of ­action on a recommendation from a parliamentary report on reproductive rights. It called for all public hospitals to offer surgical abortions or else timely pathways for terminations elsewhere.

Mr Butler on Monday confirmed that Labor wanted “to see better access to surgical termination services”, but that the matter was one for states.

“Of course, we want to see Australia’s women across cities and the bush have access to as many services as possible, including this,” he said. “(But) the idea that Canberra starts to make decisions about what services are delivered in each of those public hospitals is not going to end well.”

However, Mr Butler said he had a long meeting with state and territory health ministers after the delivery of the report into reproductive care and said he was “confident all of those state and territory health ministers took that advice seriously”.

An Albanese government spokeswoman rejected the idea Labor wasn’t also prioritising mental health, pointing to funding such as the $588m investment into establishing the national early intervention service or the creation of two new mental health peak bodies for lived experience and for families and carers of those with mental illness.

“The Albanese government is committed to reforming the mental health system to ensure all Australians receive equitable ­access to the care they need. There can’t be a one-size-fits-all approach to mental health, and reform will take time,” the spokeswoman said. “That’s why our government is taking crucial steps to transform the system into a stepped care model, expanding the range and reach of free mental health services.”

The Coalition has announced that it would increase subsidised psychology sessions from 10 to 20, as was the case during Covid, while attacking Labor for not announcing more policies for mental illness. “It is so disappointing that Labor has not announced a single new measure for Australians living with more complex or chronic mental health conditions,” opposition health spokeswoman Anne Ruston said.