frank quinlan - mental health council of australia - examining the future provision of mental health...

Mentally healthy people,

mentally healthy communitiesmhaustralia.org

The future of

mental health

services

The Future of Medicare Conference

Frank Quinlan, CEO, Sydney, August 2014

mhaustralia.org

Today’s conversation…

• Current reforms and processes impacting

mental health

• Key considerations for mental health

reform

• Some reasons to despair

• Some reasons to hope

mhaustralia.org

Current reforms impacting mental health…

• 2014 Budget

• National Mental Health Commission

Review of Mental Health Programs and

Services

• McClure review of welfare

• NDIS roll out

• Federation whitepaper

mhaustralia.org

2014 Budget…

• Mental health programs largely isolated

• Impacts on consumers

• Changes to DSP and NewStart

• Proposed co-payment

• Senate and policy “hair trigger”

• Ongoing fiscal constraint

mhaustralia.org

NMHC Review of programs and services…

• Scope

• Shared ownership

• Change management

• Fiscal constraint

mhaustralia.org

McClure review of welfare…

• Inadequate payments, poverty traps,

perverse incentives make the review

welcome

• Identified factors other than payments –

supports, capacity, opportunity

• Links to other reviews and processes are

unclear

mhaustralia.org

NDIS roll out…

• Early days of a staged rollout

• Captures many state and

Commonwealth programs in its net

• Bi-lateral agreements were negotiated

without input from NGO and other

relevant parties

• Continues to represent a fundamental

shift in our approach to services

mhaustralia.org

Federation whitepaper…

• Commonwealth state relations are at the

core of many service issues

• Mental health is a good example of

programs caught at the cusp

• Commonwealth state relations remain

unpredictable

• Commonwealth government will be

starting to build its pre-election platform

mhaustralia.org

Key considerations for mental health

reform…

• Full and meaningful participation by

people who experience mental illness

and their carers

• Health promotion, prevention and early

intervention

• Recovery orientation

• Integration

• Accountability

mhaustralia.org

Key considerations for mental health

reform…

• Matching consumer and carer need with

the right assistance

• Nationally agreed targets and indicators

• Long term agenda for mental health

reform

• Governance to support our objectives

• Financial incentives to support reform

mhaustralia.org

Some reasons to despair…

• Characterisation of mental illness as an

episodic disorder

• “Obsessive Hope Disorder”

• National leadership

• Commonwealth State relations

mhaustralia.org

Some reasons hope…

• Momentum for change

• Mental as…

mhaustralia.org

Some reasons hope…

mhaustralia.org

Some reasons hope…

• Momentum for change

• Mental as…

• Recognition of the greater importance of

prevention and early intervention

• Recognition of the value of integration

• Recognition of the economic impact of

mental illness

mhaustralia.org

mhaustralia.org