❓ Mr. Jones questions the Minister for Mental Health on the implementation of recommendations from the infant, child, and adolescent mental health taskforce and the government's investment in mental health services. The Minister details increased funding, specific initiatives, and a commitment to improving mental health services, particularly for children and adolescents.
AnsweredQoN 720Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
INFANT, CHILD AND ADOLESCENT MENTAL HEALTH
TASKFORCE — RECOMMENDATIONS
720. Mr H.T. JONES to the Minister for Mental Health:
I refer to the Cook Labor government's commitment to
implement recommendations for the infant, child and adolescent mental health
taskforce.
(1) Can the minister update the house on the implementation
of the taskforce's recommendations?
(2) Can the
minister advise the house how this government continues to grow its investment
in mental health services?
TASKFORCE — RECOMMENDATIONS
720. Mr H.T. JONES to the Minister for Mental Health:
I refer to the Cook Labor government's commitment to
implement recommendations for the infant, child and adolescent mental health
taskforce.
(1) Can the minister update the house on the implementation
of the taskforce's recommendations?
(2) Can the
minister advise the house how this government continues to grow its investment
in mental health services?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2)
I thank the member for Darling Range for his question. I am very happy to
advise the house of this government's record injection of funding into
the mental health system, which brings the overall mental health budget to $1.4
billion a year across Western Australia. That is a 50 per cent increase since
we came to government in 2017—a 50 per
cent increase in funding in frontline mental health services. It is important for a number of reasons. There is an additional $82 million for hospital mental
health services and $24.4 million for the WA
Country Health Service mental health emergency telehealth service—something that the former coalition commonwealth
government cut, so we stepped in and the state funded it. There is $200 million
set aside for the Graylands reconfiguration and forensic taskforce and another
$35.5 million for the infant, child and
adolescent taskforce. As we know, in 2020, the former Minister for Mental
Health , now Premier Cook, established the taskforce into infant, child
and adolescent services, which is a total rewrite
of the public delivery of mental health services for our children and
adolescents in Western Australia . It is an outstanding piece of work. It
involves 32 recommendations and there are 100 members of the taskforce,
including consumers and carers, importantly. A number of those key actions will
be infinite and ongoing. It is about how we
change our models of care and how we treat children and adolescents who are experiencing mental health issues.
We
immediately committed $47.3 million in the 2022–23 budget to uplift
services and staff on the front line. We have implemented different
models of care and introduced peer workers, which is new in Western Australia and has lots of good evidence
behind it. We have enhanced the crisis response for infants and
children, which will essentially improve pathways other than hospital.
Inpatient care should always be a last
resort for children in the mental health setting. It is always better to
support families in their homes and at their schools and keep kids
active and engaged in all those activities while parents are supported in that endeavour. We have had $18 million over
four years for an immediate expansion of the WA Country Health Service
and the treating workforce. We know that kids in regional areas are the most
disadvantaged in accessing mental health services, and we have had an immediate
uplift of staffing there. Over the more medium term, we have $7 million to
implement the pilot for the infant, child and adolescent mental health service
in Bunbury. We also have the crisis intervention team at the East Metropolitan
Health Service, obviously the continuation
of uplifted services and the expansion of the Touchstone service, which
supports children aged 12 to 17 years with complex personality
disorders. We are seeing a significant increase in diagnoses of those
personality disorders.
It is only WA Labor that has
significantly increased the mental health commitment by 50 per cent since
coming to government and it is only WA Labor that will improve and increase the
quality of our mental health services.
I thank the member for Darling Range for his question. I am very happy to
advise the house of this government's record injection of funding into
the mental health system, which brings the overall mental health budget to $1.4
billion a year across Western Australia. That is a 50 per cent increase since
we came to government in 2017—a 50 per
cent increase in funding in frontline mental health services. It is important for a number of reasons. There is an additional $82 million for hospital mental
health services and $24.4 million for the WA
Country Health Service mental health emergency telehealth service—something that the former coalition commonwealth
government cut, so we stepped in and the state funded it. There is $200 million
set aside for the Graylands reconfiguration and forensic taskforce and another
$35.5 million for the infant, child and
adolescent taskforce. As we know, in 2020, the former Minister for Mental
Health , now Premier Cook, established the taskforce into infant, child
and adolescent services, which is a total rewrite
of the public delivery of mental health services for our children and
adolescents in Western Australia . It is an outstanding piece of work. It
involves 32 recommendations and there are 100 members of the taskforce,
including consumers and carers, importantly. A number of those key actions will
be infinite and ongoing. It is about how we
change our models of care and how we treat children and adolescents who are experiencing mental health issues.
We
immediately committed $47.3 million in the 2022–23 budget to uplift
services and staff on the front line. We have implemented different
models of care and introduced peer workers, which is new in Western Australia and has lots of good evidence
behind it. We have enhanced the crisis response for infants and
children, which will essentially improve pathways other than hospital.
Inpatient care should always be a last
resort for children in the mental health setting. It is always better to
support families in their homes and at their schools and keep kids
active and engaged in all those activities while parents are supported in that endeavour. We have had $18 million over
four years for an immediate expansion of the WA Country Health Service
and the treating workforce. We know that kids in regional areas are the most
disadvantaged in accessing mental health services, and we have had an immediate
uplift of staffing there. Over the more medium term, we have $7 million to
implement the pilot for the infant, child and adolescent mental health service
in Bunbury. We also have the crisis intervention team at the East Metropolitan
Health Service, obviously the continuation
of uplifted services and the expansion of the Touchstone service, which
supports children aged 12 to 17 years with complex personality
disorders. We are seeing a significant increase in diagnoses of those
personality disorders.
It is only WA Labor that has
significantly increased the mental health commitment by 50 per cent since
coming to government and it is only WA Labor that will improve and increase the
quality of our mental health services.
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