Health and wellbeing
Mental health
Mental health problems and mental illness are a major cause of poor health in Victoria, with more than one in five adults being affected by a mental illness at some point in their life. To be most effective, it is critical that mental health services are available when people need them. The evidence demonstrates that when community-based mental health services provide timely, early intervention support, the identification of mental illness is improved and effective management made possible.
However, timely support for Victorians with a mental health problem is rarely available, with waiting lists for early intervention, community-based mental health services of up to two years being common - and demand is increasing.
VCOSS advocates that community-based mental health services need to be increased, particularly services that focus on early intervention.
Research undertaken by VCOSS and the Youth Affairs Council of Victoria (YACVic), Who’s carrying the can? A report into youth services gaps in Victoria, highlighted the need for locally-based, youth specific early intervention mental health services. Such an approach is reinforced in the recent report prepared by Boston Consulting for the Department of Premier and Cabinet, Improving mental health outcomes in Victoria: The next wave of reform. This report notes that services at this level can deliver significant economic and social outcomes.
VCOSS supports the recommendations of the Mental Health Council of Australia and the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) in their report, Not for Service, for investment in community-based mental health services to be urgently increased, so as to better meet the needs of Victorians with a mental health issue.