discharged from hospital after a suicide attempt. This is something Beyond Blue and many others have advocated for over many years”. She added, “We encourage the Commonwealth, states and territories to collaborate on the long-term investment and integrated system, measurement and workforce plans required to bring about true structural reform. The new National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Agreement, expected in November, will be critical.”
Georgie Harman, CEO of Beyond Blue, said that the record investment for mental health and suicide prevention was promising and inspiring. He said, “This is a substantial down payment to begin to build a mental health system for all”. He added, “Beyond Blue looks forward to delving deeper into the detail of the budget over the coming days and to working with all governments, the sector, partners and people with a lived experience of depression, anxiety and suicide whose insights will be fundamental to the governance, decisions, design, management, evaluation and implementation of reforms”.
Beyond Blue also applauded the following funding support: $31.2 million to establish accreditation and guidelines for safe spaces, as well as to pilot a national Distress Intervention program; $46.6 million to parenting initiatives; $79 million to enact key initiatives for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Strategy; $3.1 million to expand the peer support workforce and offer up to 390 peer work scholarships; and $117.2 million for a national database focused on service quality, performance, and outcomes.
Ms Harman also expressed her gratitude to the Federal Government for extending Beyond Blue’s core support for another four years. She said, “We are extremely thankful for the certainty provided by the Government’s commitment to support our core work through to 2025, which means we can plan ahead with greater confidence in serving the community”.
