Mental health system reaching point of breakdown

Graham Milner, Perth

The crisis in mental health care in Western Australia has reached severe proportions. There are now rumours that the state government is preparing a new funding package for the sector without community consultation.

A community nurse with 30 years' experience in the WA mental health system told Green Left Weekly that the situation of mental health in the state was "desperate". There are currently no beds available throughout the entire state for an extensive number of cases requiring close care and supervision.

According to the July 7 West Australian, since the state ALP government was elected three-and-a-half years ago, the share of the health budget devoted to mental health services has declined from 8.15% to 7%. One of the most significant problems in WA mental health is the acute lack of supported accommodation.

Mental health has usually fared worse than general health — in the attention and funding that it receives — in many parts of the world. The desperate situation in WA is the result of decades of economic rationalist policies by state and federal governments. The failure to meet the essential needs of a significant proportion of the population — those who suffer from mental illnesses or disabilities — is totally unacceptable, and is yet another indictment of the state ALP government and its lack of social responsibility.

From Green Left Weekly, August 4, 2004.

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From GLW issue 592