Welcome to Mental Health Australia

Mental Health Australia was pleased to provide a submission in response to the interim report of the Productivity Commission’s review of the National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Agreement. This response builds on our initial submission to this review, and is informed by a consultation workshop with Mental Health Australia members.The interim report provides a clear and valuable analysis of the shortcomings of the current National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Agreement, and a useful start on a way forward for the next Agreement. Mental Health Australia strongly supports the majority of the Commission’s draft recommendations. However we are concerned the proposal for extension of the current Agreement risks further delaying urgent intergovernmental actions, particularly in addressing unmet need for psychosocial support, and does not allow appropriate time for development of a renewed National Mental Health Strategy. Mental Health Australia’s submission offers ten specific recommendations for consideration in the Productivity Commission’s final report. Our recommendations point to better balancing the need for urgent action and long-term reform, strengthening governance and accountability, considering the needs of priority population groups and improving sector sustainability through the next Agreement.

On Friday 25 July 2025, Mental Health Australia made a submission to the Australian Government’s consultation on the NDIS Supports Rules. The rules will determine which supports are and are not considered NDIS Supports, and therefore can or can not be purchased through a NDIS plan. Mental Health Australia’s submission calls for:Exercise physiology and personal wellbeing activities for the purpose of improving psychosocial functioning to be available through NDIS plansA transparent process to update both the lists of ‘Supports that are NDIS supports” and “Supports that are not NDIS Supports”Clarity around the provision of recovery-oriented supportConsistency in the interpretation of therapeutic supports for people with psychosocial disability.The submission builds on Mental Health Australia’s previous submission, and also refers the Australian Government to the National Mental Health Consumer Alliance’s submission as a critical contribution from a lived experience perspective.

On Friday 20 June 2025, Mental Health Australia provided an Incoming Government Brief on psychosocial disability and the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) to Minister for Disability and the NDIS, the Hon Mark Butler MP and Minister for the NDIS, Senator the Hon Jenny McAllister.The brief acknowledges that while the NDIS has been life changing for many people with psychosocial disability, their family, carers and kin, it is clear that overall there is a need for a more tailored and effective use of the funding committed to the NDIS for people with psychosocial disability. The brief outlines practical solutions to deliver this approach and recommends priority actions for the first 100 days and first year of this government, informed by sector and lived experience expertise. Actions include introducing a new approach to NDIS support for people with psychosocial disability, getting navigation reforms right for people with psychosocial disability, understanding the recent decline in NDIS access rates, shifting from encouraging dependence to supporting recovery, ensuring psychosocial expertise is informing NDIS reforms and fixing NDIS pricing. The brief also discusses implementation of General Foundational Supports for people with psychosocial disability and addressing the unmet need for psychosocial support outside the NDIS.Read the full Incoming Government Brief by clicking on the PDF link below.

Mental Health Australia's Incoming Government Brief for the mental health portfolio outlines the mental health sector’s priorities for the Albanese Government in the first 100 days and first year, as well as the ongoing reforms the sector is keen to see the government continue to deliver.