Today’s announcement by Hon Mark Butler, Minister for Health and Ageing and Minister for Disability and the National Disability Insurance Scheme marks a significant moment for Australia’s disability and mental health landscape, one the community mental health sector has long anticipated, and one that will raise as many questions as it answers.
One question that has been answered is that people with psychosocial disability will not be removed from the scheme on the basis of their mental health diagnosis, and this announcement is warmly welcomed.
Community Mental Health Australia (CMHA) also welcomes the direction of the announcement, while acknowledging that reform at this scale inevitably brings uncertainty for those who depend most on the system.
“Reform is rarely neat or tidy, and we should not pretend otherwise,” said Kerry Hawkins, CEO of Community Mental Health Australia.
“What matters now is that the people at the very centre of this reform, the Australians currently receiving NDIS supports, along with their families, carers and kin are not lost in the complexity of the transition,” commented Kerry.
“We welcome Minister Butler’s commitment to eradicating fraudulent activity from the scheme,” she added.
“To be effective for the Australians both now and into the future it is designed to support, the scheme must be of economic value,” Kerry said.
That economic case is increasingly well-evidenced. Just weeks ago, Professor Paul Flatau from the Centre for Social Impact at the University of Western Australia presented new economic analysis confirming what the community mental health sector has long understood: investment in psychosocial supports delivers strong measurable returns for individuals, families and the broader economy.
“Minister Butler acknowledged today that people with psychosocial disability are the next major priority for reform,” said Kerry.
“He confirmed this group will not face a higher eligibility bar under the new framework, that unmet need exists outside the current scheme, and that foundational supports for adults with severe mental health challenges will be addressed through the upcoming National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Agreement currently being negotiated with the states and territories,” Kerry said.
“We have heard that commitment and we take it seriously. We will work closely with our members to ensure the right to access psychosocial supports outside the NDIS are upheld by both the Commonwealth and state and territory governments. These NDIS reforms make it even more critical that this work progresses urgently,” she added.
“There are many Australians currently receiving no supports at all, people whose lives are shaped every day by the presence or absence of the right support. Acknowledgement is an important first step, what comes next must match it,” Kerry iterated.
The Minister also pointed to the community-managed supports that preceded the NDIS; programs like personal helpers and mentors and day-to-day living supports as the foundation on which to rebuild. Many of those programs were wound back as NDIS funding absorbed available investment. The people who relied on them did not stop needing them.
“The community-managed mental health sector has been walking alongside people living with mental health challenges for a very long time,” Kerry said.
Community Mental Health Australia has committed to being a constructive partner throughout the reform process; at the table for the upcoming mental health and NDIS reforms, bringing evidence, sector wisdom, economic analysis, and above all, platforming the voices of people with lived expertise.
“People’s lives cannot be reduced to numbers, and reform cannot be reduced to a press conference,” Kerry said.
“Reforming the NDIS is just one step, what we are watching for now is whether the human experience of this change is held at the centre of every decision that follows. That is the standard we will apply, and the standard we will advocate for,” she added.
“Change of this scale asks something of all of us. It asks governments to follow through. It asks the sector to stay focused on the people we are here to support, whether that’s within the NDIS or outside the scheme,” concluded Kerry.
ENDS
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For media interviews, please contact Kerry Hawkins CEO Community Mental Health Australia
Email ceo@cmha.org.au
