Australians for Mental Health has welcomed today’s announcement by the NSW government of a $111.8 million package of initiatives to support community mental health and wellbeing.  

The package, which includes a range of measures; including the expansion of community-based mental health teams, a boost to alternatives to long term hospital care for people with persistent mental illness and complex needs, and a “Mental Health Single Front Door” to improve accessibility to care, are a welcome sign the NSW government is changing the way it approaches mental health. 

“We all know Australian’s mental health is in crisis, and yet after more than 50 inquiries in the last decade the problem is getting worse,” said Chris Gambian, Executive Director of Australians for Mental Health. 

“If governments truly want to tackle this problem they must rethink and reform the way they approach mental health and work to create systems which not only give people the level of care they need, when and how they need it, but which also foster wellbeing.” 

“Today’s announcement is a strong step in the right direction, and it shows that that NSW government is starting to work on the level of transformational reform the mental health crisis demands.”  

For interviews with Chris Gambian please contact Simon Black: [email protected], or 0420 488 219. 

About Australians for Mental Health: 

Australians for Mental Health was founded in 2014 to campaign for fundamental change in the way the country thinks and acts about mental health. Our mission is to ensure that Australia starts putting mental health at the heart of our national life.