MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES —
CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS
275. Ms D.G. D'ANNA to the Minister for Mental
Health:
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's record investment in mental health services as part of the
upcoming state budget. Can the minister update the house on how this investment
will respond to the recommendations of the
Ministerial Taskforce into Public Mental Health Services for Infants, Children
and Adolescents Aged 0–18 Years in Western Australia, and will
ensure that community care and early intervention is put front and centre?
Ms A.
SANDERSON replied:
I thank the member for Kimberley for
her question. I know that she is a very strong advocate for mental health and
alcohol and drug services in her community and I thank her for that.
Earlier this year, we saw the Ministerial Taskforce into
Public Mental Health Services for Infants, Children and Adolescents Aged 0–18
Years in Western Australia hand down its report. The task force provides a very
clear, contemporary, evidence-informed model
of service and model of care for children and adolescents in Western Australia.
It is important that they have a good experience in our mental health system
from the time that they are born. Some of the fundamental reforms include more
intensive community-based treatments for kids in crisis; essentially, keeping
kids out of hospital when they are experiencing mental health issues, but
making sure that they have the supports in their communities and, wherever possible,
with their families and their schools, as well; better supports for families;
and a more inclusive approach between families and clinicians in treatment
decisions. It was heard very loud and clear
from the report that parents and children want more engagement with and
involvement in actual clinical decisions and diagnoses of their
conditions. The reforms also include better coordination and information sharing across agencies—when children are
interacting with Justice and Communities, we need to be able to engage
across those agencies so that we understand the mental health status of those
children—increased peer workforce and Aboriginal mental health workers,
which was a significant recommendation; and improvement of access for regional
kids and families, which was found to be wanting. The report also outlines a comprehensive
workforce development strategy to deliver
these outcomes. The reform is wideranging; there is no question of that. It is
big and complex and it will take time. There are 32 recommendations and
we are committed to implementing all those recommendations.
Earlier this week, I announced as
part of the budget that the McGowan government is investing a record $1.3 billion
this year in mental health services and alcohol and drug services, including
$47.3 million to support the implementation of some of the most urgent
requirements for children, infants and adolescents. This includes $18.5 million
for an immediate uplift in child and adolescent mental health service staff
based in WA Country Health Service areas. They will be across all those WA
Country Health Service areas. That is a great outcome for them. There will be
$12.9 million for peer support workers. These are going to be critical in how
we deliver our mental health services going forward. That peer support
workforce will help to support people who need access to children, adolescents,
and alcohol and drug services. We know that waiting lists are getting longer.
We know that people are waiting for support now. We have also allocated $10 million
for a two-year virtual support service for at-risk children and their families
so that when they are on that waitlist, they are not just waiting for someone
to see them and assess them and provide treatment; they will have video and telecommunications
to support families in that transition phase so that they know someone has got
them and they can get some advice on how to deal with crises and ongoing
challenges. There is also $1.3 million for mental health workforce development.
We know that this is a significant area of shortage around the world. We need
to be not only developing our workforce here, but also attracting people to and
retaining them in Western Australia. We are prepared to fund that and support
that through the Mental Health Commission.
Importantly, we are putting money
towards developing the service model that will involve those families and
children who are seeking support to see what model of care they need and that
they want to see driven. The co-design of this reform is really key to its
success. We know that many families in Western Australia are touched by this
issue. It is a first step of a five-year reform. We have work to do. But we
have an incredibly committed and highly skilled workforce in our child and
adolescent mental health service now across regional Western Australia, and
this will help them support them in that.
We are not alone in reform. The
commonwealth needs to work with us. It has supported us through a national
mental health agreement with the establishment of primary health care for
children and adolescents, although that will take some years to come online. I have
to say, despite the record investment and the importance of this issue in the
community, we have not seen a single response from the opposition in Western Australia
on mental health in this budget—not a tweet, not a media release, not a
single comment. In fact, we have seen more coverage of our announcement on this
by The Border Mail in Wodonga in Victoria and The North West Star
based in Mt Isa in Queensland than we have seen from the opposition in WA!