Mental Health

The Greens believe that access to quality health care, including mental health care, is a basic human right.  With approximately twenty percent of Australians experiencing mental health issues in any given year, mental health policy goes to the heart of our nation’s wellbeing and touches all of us.  It is therefore vital that adequate funding and attention is given to all aspects of mental health in Australia.

Our three key priority areas are:

- Responding to the unique mental health issues faced by regional, rural and remote Australia;

- Increasing access to appropriate services, improving the quality of such services, and expanding community-based support programs and agencies to enable people experiencing mental illness to live in and participate more fully in their communities; and

- Adequate support and improvement of preventative models and approaches to mental health care.

Most recently, the Greens successfully negotiated a reduction in cuts to mental health treatment sessions under the Better Access program.  The revised cuts are a positive compromise as they provide a transition period for the Government to develop and build the capacity of alternative programs and services.