Tara Murray
A new mental health priority site in Brimbank will be fast tracked on the back of the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System.
The report released last week recommended the establishment of local adult and older adult mental health and wellbeing services.
In response, the state government announced last week that six priority sites, including one in Brimbank, would open next year.
The six sites will be the first of up to 60 across the state, providing a ‘front-door’ for anyone in the community to access mental health support including a range of therapies and expanded wellbeing treatment.
The new services will work to a ‘how can we help?’ model, helping people seamlessly access the right support for them, close to home, across a transformed mental health and wellbeing system.
The Department of Health will immediately investigate options to establish services within each priority region and local providers will be involved in the consultation process.
The first of these local services would open from mid-2022, with all six of the initial services open by the end of 2022.
Brimbank has one of the highest levels of very high psychological distress (a measure of anxiety and depression) recorded across Victoria.
About one in five Victorians will experience a mental health problem each year. Suicide is consistently the leading cause of death for people aged between 15 and 44.
The announcement of the new facilities is on top of the $492 million to be spent on 120 mental health beds in Epping, Geelong, Sunshine and Melbourne, announced in November.
Meanwhile, a 12-bed Women’s Prevention and Recovery Care (PARC) facility offering short-term mental health care for women is set to open at Sunshine Hospital next year.
Mental Health Minister James Merlino said this was the first step in implementing the ambitious agenda set out in the final report.
“It will take time, but these new localised mental health services will provide better coverage and easier access to services for Victorians, no matter where they live.
“This is all about treating people early in the community, rather than too late in hospital.”
Local MPs Natalie Suleyman, Natalie Hutchins and Ben Carroll have thrown their support behind the fast tracked facility.
“These new services will provide localised support across Brimbank – ensuring people get access within the community,” Ms Suleyman said.
