Expanding mental health services in the ACT means Canberra young people and their families will be better supported earlier on when they need treatment rather than waiting until they have a need for acute treatment, the Mental Health Minister has said.
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Emma Davidson said a package of funding in the upcoming territory budget for mental health services was part of the government's vision for a kind, connected and informed community that's working together to protect the mental health and wellbeing of everyone.
"The real rationale for funding early intervention work is that it works, it saves lives, it has great outcomes for people's whole of life. Yes, that has economic benefits as well, but the reason we're doing this is because this is what people need to live a connected, happy life; that's what we want for people. We want to support them when they're having those kind of difficulties," Ms Davidson said.
Ms Davidson said the mental health impacts of the COVID-19 period had helped inform some of the government's funding decisions, but the decisions had also been informed by assessments of where mental health services gaps existed in the ACT community.
"We have been wanting to work on this - and we've been trying to get the right services up and running - but we know also that during the last couple of years with the impacts of lockdown, young people have been particularly impacted in terms of social isolation and the economic impacts as well. All of that ends up having an effect on people's mental health and wellbeing," she said.
The funding includes $14.5 million over four years to increase mental health services for families and young people, including perinatal mental health screening, an expansion of the childhood early intervention team into Gungahlin and a dialectical behavioural therapy service for mothers and infants.
Mental health supports for young people experiencing or at risk of mental health concerns, including self-harm and suicide, will also be expanded, alongside a broader expansion of suicide prevention programs.
A follow-up service will help provide care to people discharged from hospital after suicide-related admissions, while "postvention" services will support people who have recently experienced a suicide crisis or attempt.
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The total package of mental health funding will be worth $37.5 million, and include the development of a hospital avoidance strategy to support people with mental health care needs in the community.
"This includes continued funding for the Home Assessment Acute Response Team, extending operating hours of the Mental Health Consultation Liaison position at Calvary Hospital Emergency Room, implementing an Adult Dialectical Behaviour Therapy Program, and establishing a permanent Homeless Outreach Team," the government said in a statement on Sunday.
Ms Davidson said a 12-month extension of the second police, ambulance and clinician early response team, known as PACER, would allow for an evaluation of its work and this was a normal part of establishing a new service rather than immediately committing to permanent funding.
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Jasper Lindell
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
