Mental health plan 'too vague' to be of use
01-February-2012
Mental health experts have delivered a mixed assessment of the federal government's new 10-year plan for mental health services, with many suggesting it contains too few specific goals and targets to be useful.
The 42-page document, released for public comment yesterday by Mental Health and Ageing Minister Mark Butler and Families Minister Jenny Macklin, sets out overarching objectives, such as a greater emphasis on early detection and treatment and increased support for mental health patients to participate in society.
But it mostly avoids setting specific targets to be reached by a given date, or suggesting how its outcomes should be achieved.
Mental Health Council of Australia chief executive Frank Quinlan said the peak body was "absolutely committed to the idea of a roadmap", but the document -- now in its fourth version -- could be seen only as "a start".
He said identifiable and clear targets were needed.
"This roadmap begins that process, but there needs to be a lot more work that brings together governments and the sector to make sure this plan lives and breathes," he said.
Former Australian of the Year and early intervention advocate Patrick McGorry said the roadmap was an improvement on its earlier versions.
John Mendoza, who quit as chairman of the federal government's National Advisory Council on Mental Health in 2010 in protest at what he considered the neglect of mental health policy, said there had been two national mental health policies, four national plans and many more strategies over the past 20 years -- all of which were "unable to address the mental health needs of generations of Australians".
"What makes this different?" Professor Mendoza asked.
A spokeswoman for Mr Butler said: "Building a world-class mental health system takes time, sustained focus and sustained investment, which is why our roadmap is so important -- it outlines what we intend to do over the long term and how we'll get there."
First appeared in The Australian.
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