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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 03 Hansard (Thursday, 11 March 2004) . . Page.. 1091 ..

stand here today and describe some of the achievements of the government in addressing this neglect. But you cannot fix everything overnight. Like most things in health, there are no quick fixes, just worthwhile investments in longer term positive reform, and it would be simplistic to suggest otherwise.

One of the first things the government did early in 2002 was to convene a health summit to explore the range of issues and challenges for the whole of the health portfolio, including mental health, and to seek input in developing ways to improve these services. The summit resulted in the development of the health action plan, which identified mental health as one of the major priorities for the government. The action plan has guided us in decisions about programs and initiatives in the mental health sector.

Since coming to office we have increased the funding for mental health from the miserly $67 per capita under the previous government to $115 per capita in 2003. This may still not be enough but it is a very significant improvement on the problems and the neglect we encountered on coming to office. Initiatives under these budget increases have enhanced the services for mental health consumers in the ACT, especially in the area of community-based care. Funding has been targeted particularly in the areas of supported accommodation, respite care and additional mental health after-hours and outreach teams to support people in the community.

In 2003, Mental Health ACT provided care for 6,291 people. This included 1,226 inpatient hospital separations and 177,443 community occasions of service—an increase of 26,443 from the 151,000 community occasions of care provided in 2001 under the last government.

There is little doubt that the demand for mental health services is ongoing and increasing in several areas. The government does not want to let mental health consumers down. Investing in good mental health services is a sound investment in the welfare of individuals and the welfare of the community. This was a point obviously not understood by previous administrations.

In line with international and national current best practice and standards, there is now an emphasis on providing services for clients in their own homes or in regional community team centres. Except for acute care, the aim is to reduce the use of hospital and extended-care beds and to care for people with a mental illness in the least restrictive environment.

Mental Health ACT provides a full range of mental health services for the ACT community, including 50 acute public inpatient beds, four adult community teams providing community-based case management, crisis intervention, child and adolescent mental health services, older persons mental health services; and a range of specialist services, including forensic mental health services, a dual disability program, an eating disorders program, perinatal services and a drug and alcohol linkage program.

The government also provides $4.45 million to fund a range of community organisations to provide a wide spectrum of services for people with a mental illness living in our community. These services include supported accommodation, respite care, outreach services, vocational training and employment, carer and consumer advocacy and support, mental health education and promotion, mental health support to refugees, services

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