Mental Health Victoria welcomes the signing of a bilateral agreement between the Commonwealth and the Victorian governments, which will form part of the forthcoming National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Agreement.
All states and territories but Tasmania and Western Australia have now signed their respective bilateral agreements. These agreements are not yet public.
The Victorian agreement will include a Commonwealth investment of $247.9 million across the next five years to help support mental health and suicide prevention services in Victoria.
It will include a purported focus on additional services for the 'missing middle', to ensure people across Victoria are guaranteed the essential services they need.
Mental Health Victoria's Acting CEO Larissa Taylor said while the allocated funding is welcomed, the scale and strategy miss the mark.
The Victorian Government to date has committed $3.8 billion to implement the recommendations from the Royal Commission into Victoria's Mental Health System.
"The bilateral funding announcement represents a mismatch in scale, lacking the transformational, system-wide vision that is urgently required to meet the escalating needs of Victorians," Taylor said.
Taylor noted that the new funding included a number of specific initiatives for Victoria that are aligned with Mental Health Victoria's recent advocacy, including via submissions to the Federal Budget 2022-23 and the Victorian State Budget 2022-23. These include:
· Universal aftercare services to support people following a suicide attempt or suicidal crisis
· Improved support for perinatal mental health
· Expansion of Head to Health centres.
"Mental Health Victoria seeks
