CEO Update - Will the PC Inquiry provide clarity and certainty in an otherwise uncertain time?
Will the PC Inquiry provide clarity and certainty in an otherwise uncertain time?
Over the coming weeks we will edge towards a Federal Budget, and then a Federal Election, where many things will be uncertain, some things unclear and definitely a lot of things under pressure. Because that’s the nature of politics and the state and federal environments in which we operate.
Election campaigns, and care-taker periods interrupt real and lasting reform, but this year is different. Different for the mental health sector that is. This year we have opportunity to contribute to real and lasting change for the sector as a whole. Change that can be bigger than a new or returning government or Minister.
While the major and minor parties, and the increasing number of independents for that matter, will hit the streets campaigning for votes, the Productivity Commission Inquiry into Mental Health will continue in full swing.
As Australians head to polls in May, the PC Inquiry will have already begun sifting through the many submissions and brief comments from organisations and individuals, into how an improved mental health system will not only help people in our community, but help the economy.
This remains my Number 1 hope for this Inquiry. The hope that at the end of this 18 month process, when the report is delivered in May 2020, there is lasting clarity and certainty for a mental health sector that has too often operated under pressure, underfunded, and under resourced to meet the need in uncertain political times.
The need for mental health services and support has never been greater. The Productivity Commission Inquiry is the biggest opportunity yet to address these issues at both a federal and state level combined.
Next Tuesday, when Members and delegates of Mental Health Australia meet in Canberra at our first Members Policy Forum of the year, the PC Inquiry will be top of the agenda.
Assistant Commissioner Rosalyn Bell will be in attendance to listen to our concerns and to outline the process and timelines, as well as answer any questions ahead of the first key date – with submissions due on Friday 5 April.
This week, we also announced that following the success of our Investing to Save report released last year, Mental Health Australia we will be partnering KPMG again, this time on our submissions to the Productivity Commission Inquiry.
Many of you will have noticed the Investing to Save report is now frequently referenced in articles on mental health, particularly in relation to the Productivity Commission Inquiry, with its most recent appearance in the Australian Parliamentary Library Guide to Mental Health.
Working with KPMG, Mental Health Australia’s first submission to the Productivity Commission Inquiry will comprise two parts:
- Our expectations of the Productivity Commission and its final report, and
- The ideal governance and financing arrangements that provide cross-portfolio and cross-jurisdictional responsibilities and accountabilities.
KPMG will use their global network and expertise to support our submissions by:
- Delivering a presentation to the Productivity Commission on the measures in the Investing to Save report that can be scaled up to achieve substantial downstream savings
- Conducting a local and global evidence review of innovative and best practice service delivery models
- Identifying the best intergovernmental governance and financing arrangements to achieve integrated social and mental health policies and services, and long term funding arrangements for them. Outcomes previous inquires have not managed to secure.
These submissions, as well as the many more currently being prepared by Members, stakeholders and individuals in the sector will go a long way to informing the Productivity Commission Inquiry and helping shape the certainty and clarity we need in the mental health sector.
A true once in a generation opportunity in an otherwise unpredictable time leading up to, during, and immediately after a Federal Election
Warm regards,
Frank Quinlan
Chief Executive Officer
National Multicultural Mental Health Project
Help contribute to a new name and brand!
Take the five minute SURVEY TODAY
The National Multicultural Mental Health Project provides a national focus on mental health and suicide prevention for people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds.
This new Project builds on the important work of previous national multicultural mental health projects (e.g. Mental Health in Multicultural Australia [MHiMA], and Multicultural Mental Health Australia), and works towards an equitable mental health system which reflects and responds well to the needs of Australia’s multicultural population.
Project activities include:
• Providing support for organisations to evaluate and improve their cultural responsiveness through further development and promotion of the
Framework for Mental Health in Multicultural Australia
• Establishing, maintaining and promoting a quality-assured knowledge exchange and repository platform on the project’s website
• Increasing mental health awareness, knowledge and capacity in CALD communities.
• Mapping available evidence-based resources and tools and from these findings, identifying priorities and developing new resources and training
More information about the Project can be found here:
Mental Health Australia is working together with the Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Council of Australia and National Ethnic Disability Alliance to deliver the project, and we are seeking your thoughts, feelings and ideas on the brand values and a new name for the National Multicultural Mental Health Project.
Naming & Branding Activity - Take the five minute SURVEY
We welcome your contributions to the discussion and development of a new name and brand that will capture the essence and identity of the National Multicultural Mental Health Project.
Click here to take the five minute survey by Friday 15 March 2019.
Thank you and farewell to Belinda Highmore
On behalf of the Mental Health Australia Board and all of our staff I would like to thank and congratulate Belinda Highmore on her work and contribution to Mental Health Australia for the last two years. Belinda has worked in health policy more broadly for more than 25 years, and has been an incredibly valuable asset to Mental Health Australia. She played big role in our Investing to Save report with KMPG, as well as our recent work around the NDIS Psychosocial Pathway Project. We wish Belinda all the best with her impending tree change and early retirement to the Bega Valley, and thank her again for her commitment and dedication to the often slow and unrewarding task of health policy. Thanks and good luck Belinda. You leave behind an enormous legacy of improved health care for all Australians.
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