Prof. Tony Jorm on the Royal Commission into Victoria's Mental Health System interim report
The Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System has recently released its interim report.
Professor Tony Jorm has written for The Conversation in response to the report:
“The report contains a number of recommendations as to how the state should go about improving its approach to mental health care.
These include providing additional hospital beds, boosting the mental health workforce, increasing supports for people who have attempted suicide, and creating a dedicated Aboriginal Social and Emotional Wellbeing Centre. The commissioners have also recommended Victorians pay a new tax to enable increased funding for mental health.
Each of these recommendations responds to pressing problems, including difficulties in accessing services (even for people with severe mental health problems), a high suicide rate among people in contact with services, and the greater prevalence of mental health problems among Aboriginal Victorians compared to Victorians overall.
Given Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has committed to implementing all the commission’s recommendations, this is a major opportunity for sweeping reform.
But achieving broad system change will require streamlining state and Commonwealth responsibilities, away from the current model where blurred lines see many people falling through the cracks.”