Australians for Mental Health is calling for the Federal Parliament to develop and enact a Wellbeing Act in order to combat the mental health crisis in Australia.
Such an act is necessary in order to enlist the whole of government in the effort to improve mental health and wellbeing outcomes at a population level by:
- Articulating a set of National Mental Health & Wellbeing Principles to guide government decision-making and establish a baseline against which practises, policies and legislation can be measured;
- Requiring the creation of national targets for the reduction of mental distress in the community;
- Directing Commonwealth Departments and Agencies to develop and implement plans and initiatives that reduce the levels of mental distress in the community;
- Establishing a system of accountability for government actions in relation to mental health and well-being
You can read the full text of our proposal here, but just some of the things such an Act would do are:
- Mandating that government decisions are assessed for their impact on mental health and wellbeing – so that the avoidable tragedy of Robodebt can never happen again;
- Requiring every department and agency to identify and leverage its opportunities to support mental health, and act to mitigate those areas that run the risk of causing avoidable mental harm;
- Creating a set national targets for mental health and wellbeing: a north star for what “good” looks like, alongside a set of National Mental Health and Wellbeing Principles to act as a compass for getting there;
- Making government accountable by creating a Mental Health and Wellbeing Commissioner in the Australian Human Rights Commission.
Add Your Name to the Petition!
To the Members of the House of Representative in Parliament assembled:
We, the undersigned residents of Australia, ask the House to develop and enact a Wellbeing Act to:
1. ensure the functioning of the Commonwealth Government supports good mental health and wellbeing and minimises harm to mental health and wellbeing;
2. improve the lives of all Australians through better mental health and wellbeing.
