Mental Health Australia chair quits in despair at government inaction

The chair of Mental Health Australia has quit his position at the peak body, citing his frustration with the Albanese government’s inaction on mental health.

In a move that will intensify scrutiny on Labor’s dedication to the issue, Matt Berriman, a former cricketer and businessman who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and attempted suicide, resigned on Wednesday after three years petitioning the government to improve the system.

Matt Berriman has quit as chair of Mental Health Australia, citing his frustration with the Albanese government’s inaction on mental health.Credit: Simon Schluter

“While I depart the organisation comfortable with the efforts taken to advocate for meaningful change, I feel that a lack of traction at the Australian government level means it is time for someone else to take this important mental health mantle,” he said.

“The nation is amid a mental health crisis and Australians need urgent collaborative attention at the highest level. Only increased investment in services and major public policy reform will affect the necessary change. Every Australian deserves a system that truly supports and enhances their mental health. Anything less just isn’t good enough.”

Berriman had previously taken swipes at Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s commitment to mental health reform.

“With one in five of us impacted by a mental health condition each year, why is mental health not a national priority and getting the attention of our prime minister?” he said in a speech last year.

His resignation comes weeks before the federal budget and during a period of heightened attention on Australia’s mental health system.

Albanese and Health Minister Mark Butler have faced questioning over their investment in mental health services following two high-profile stabbings in Sydney this month. In both cases, the perpetrators’ families raised their history of mental illness.

In response, Albanese last week said the country needed to do better. “We can always do better when it comes to mental health. But we have put substantial additional resources into mental health in our last budget,” he said.

Butler said at a press conference that he had spent the past year working with clinicians, stakeholders and consumers to improve support for Australians in distress. “As the Prime Minister has said over the last couple of weeks, there is obviously more that we should be doing in this country to support people with mental illness,” he said.

“We’ve also been working with state governments now for some time, on understanding the need, the gaps, in better mental health services for those with more acute needs … I’m sure we’ll have more to say about that over the next little while as well.”

But the mental health sector has grown frustrated with the federal government at several points during its term, including when Butler reverted the number of Medicare-subsidised psychology sessions from 20 a year to the pre-pandemic maximum of 10.

The health minister said this decision enabled thousands more people to see psychologists and promised more wide-ranging reform. However, the government is yet to formally respond to a review of the mental health system handed down at the end of 2022.

Psychiatrist Patrick McGorry, a former Australian of the Year, said: “I can understand the frustration. It’s like Waiting for Godot in mental health reform.”

“It’s not on the political agenda. It’s just not. And yet it’s a massive public health issue. We’re spending $42 billion on the National Disability Insurance Scheme and $12 billion on mental health for the whole country,” McGorry said.

“There doesn’t seem to be political appetite for it to be addressed. I have confidence in Mark Butler, I think he is on board, but the government as a whole needs to get behind it. There’s latent anger in the community, but they feel disconnected and powerless to escalate that.”

Professor Ian Hickie, co-director of the University of Sydney Brain and Mind Institute, said it was a difficult issue for the federal government because Australia’s healthcare system was reluctant to take on genuine reform.

“The problem for government is it can’t respond by just throwing money at the problem. There’s rapidly increasing demand and we’ve never had the infrastructure to respond. We’re trying to fit it into the simplistic GP and state hospital framework,” he said.

“What everyone is crying out for is better access for personalised and specialised care, earlier in the course of illness, that is focused on recovery.”

But he agreed it was not high enough on the government’s agenda. “We say it’s a priority, but mental health never gets on the podium. A lot of good will doesn’t translate. From a community perspective, are things moving fast enough? No.”

Coalition opposition health spokeswoman Anne Ruston said it was “absolutely disgraceful” that Berriman had quit over the Albanese government’s lack of action.

“Labor has failed to introduce a single new measure to directly improve Australians’ affordable access to mental health support. It is a serious concern that Labor’s next budget will continue this harmful trend,” she said.

In a statement, Butler thanked Berriman for his work and acknowledged his deep commitment and advocacy. “The Albanese government is committed to strengthening Medicare and providing equitable access to ensure all Australians receive the care they need – including mental health support. Mental health reform will not happen overnight,” he said.

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