The Mental Health Coalition of South Australia (MHCSA) says today's State Budget has delivered nothing for the 19,000 South Australians with severe mental illness who continue to go without the community-based mental health support they need to avoid a hospital crisis.
Three years have passed since the Office of the Chief Psychiatrist released The Unmet Needs Study, which clearly documented that more than 19,000 South Australians with severe mental illness were going without the community-based support they need to stay well. The study estimated an annual investment of $125 million was required to close that gap. Today's Budget did not deliver anything towards that investment.
"Three years of waiting, three years of reports, three years of recommendations — and still nothing. The Government had the evidence, it had the opportunity, and it had a clear ask from the sector and from its own reports. Those 19,000 South Australians are still waiting," said Geoff Harris, Executive Director of the MHCSA.
The Federal Government's NDIS reform package, announced in April, will cut eligibility for more than 160,000 current and future NDIS participants. People with psychosocial disability are at particular risk, with no clear alternative support or funding for this group. NDIS approval rates for people with mental health-related applications have dropped over five years from 66% in 2020-21 to just 25% in the most recent data.
"The NDIS reforms will push more people out of the scheme and into a system that is already strained. Without investment in community based mental health support, those people will end up in emergency departments and crisis services — the most expensive and for some people a traumatising response to their needs. Today's Budget has done nothing to prepare for that," Mr Harris said.
The Government's own Unmet Needs Study, the Productivity Commission Review of the National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Agreement, and independent economic analysis presented at Parliament House in March 2026 all called for urgent investment in community-based psychosocial support — not beds.
"The Government continues to invest in beds and crisis infrastructure for people who should never have reached this point in the first place. Every dollar spent on an avoidable hospitalisation is a dollar that could have funded the community support that kept that person well. This is unsustainable, and report after report keeps telling the Government that," Mr Harris said.
The MHCSA is calling on the Government to commit to a clear plan to reach the $125 million annual investment. While the National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Agreement negotiations continue, the MHCSA says South Australians cannot keep waiting for a Commonwealth solution while 19,000 people go without support.
"The evidence is not in dispute. The recommendations have been made — repeatedly, by economists, clinicians, and the Government's own department. What is missing is the political will to act on them. Those 19,000 South Australians, and their families and carers cannot wait another year," Mr Harris said.
