National Mental Health Consumer & Carer Forum submission - submitted to the Senate Community Affairs Committee Enquiry into Commonwealth Funding and Administration of Mental Health Services.

Extract from Submission::
It will be imperative that the budget initiatives:

• support the implementation of the Fourth National Mental Health Plan in guiding recovery based approaches to mental health
• acknowledge the considerable change management initiatives required to implement a recovery approach to the development and implementation of mental health services
•  include effective mechanisms to utilise the expertise of mental health consumers and carers to inform the implementation process and involve them in service design and implementation in an ongoing way
• include effective mechanisms to better integrate with disability and community support services and draw from their experience in the provision of psychosocial disability support as an essential element of holistic mental health care
• are monitored closely to ensure that they are implemented in the most strategic way, capitalising on current evidence about what does and doesn’t work in mental health
• are informed by identified population needs
• become a very first step in ongoing reform in the sector, and that ongoing policy includes acknowledgment that more key areas will need to be addressed before the foundation for reforming the mental health system can be considered complete
• build on the COAG National Action Plan on Mental Health 2006-11 and any further COAG initiatives.

In this submission the NMHCCF will discuss the importance of the formation of partnerships with consumers and carers as part of a process to drive the implementation of recovery focussed reforms in mental health and will highlight some of the major gaps that need to be addressed to ensure that this first round of mental health reform initiatives are successful.

Download:: Carer Submission to Senate 

Suicide in Australia

Key points

• In Australia, 2132 deaths were as a result of suicide in 2009—six deaths per day.[1]
• Even though suicide deaths are relatively small (out of a total of 140 760 registered deaths), it is a leading cause of death, ranked 14th in 2009 (the same as in 2000) but, more significantly, ranked 10th as a cause of death amongst males.
• Suicide is predominantly a male cause of death with 76.6 per cent of all suicide deaths in 2009.
• In 2009, the median age of suicide deaths was 43.4 years for males and 44.9 for females. In comparison, the median age of all deaths is 77.8 years for males and 83.9 for females.
• In 2009, suicide was the leading cause of death for young people aged 15–24 with almost a quarter (22 per cent) of all deaths within this group as a result of suicide.
• In 2007, the number of people who had serious thoughts about taking their own life was 368 100 and 65 300 had attempted suicide—equivalent to 179 attempts per day.
• Suicide deaths are significantly higher for Indigenous Australians. Suicide accounted for four per cent of all Indigenous deaths in 2009 (97 deaths) compared to 1.5 per cent for the total population.

Download or read report::
Suicide Data in Australia
A report prepared by the Parliamentary Library of Australia

Background Note from Austrlaian Parliamentery Library
Introduction
This Background Note provides two concordances. One concordance lists the proportion of people in each Local Government Area (LGA) that fall within each Commonwealth electoral division while the other concordance lists the proportion of people in each Statistical Local Area (SLA) that fall within each Commonwealth electoral division. The concordances are based on the 2010 edition of the Australian Standard Geographic Classification (ASGC) as published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).[1] The concordances incorporate the current electoral boundaries, i.e. those in force at the federal election of August 2010.

The concordances were generated by processing the 2006 Census population figures for Census Collection Districts (CCDs). Each CCD was allocated to the relevant SLA, LGA and electoral division of best fit.
Download::
Table 1a - Local Government Area by electoral division 

Table 1b - Electoral division by Local Government Area
Table 2a - Statistical Local Area by electoral division
Table 2b - Electoral division by Statistical Local Area

For the first time, Australia has a National Carer Strategy – the second element of the Australian Government’s National Carer Recognition Framework.  Along with the Carer Recognition Act 2010, the National Carer Strategy strengthens our commitment to recognise and respond to the needs of carers so that they have rights, choices, opportunities and capabilities to participate in economic, social and community life.

The National Carer Strategy contains a vision, an aim and six important priority areas for action – recognition and respect, information and access, economic security, services for carers, education and training and health and wellbeing.  Collectively, these priority areas outline how the contribution of Australia’s carers will be better valued, supported and shared.

The National Carer Strategy builds on what the Australian Government already provides for carers and complements reforms to improve supports provided through the aged care, disability, mental health, primary health care, hospital and community care systems.

The Strategy was developed in consultation with carers, state and territory governments, service providers and peak organisations.

Download: National Carer Strategy PDF [1MB]

Disability Care and Support Inquiry report This inquiry report was released on 10 August 2011.

• More about the Disability Care and Support inquiry Download summaries of the report

Download::

• Overview booklet - Disability Care and Support (PDF - 1057 Kb) | The overview booklet contains the key points, an extensive summary of the Commission's analysis and recommendations.
• Executive Summary of the proposed scheme (PDF - 348 Kb) |
• The Plain English version (PDF - 128 Kb) | 

Full report

• Volume 1 - Disability Care and Support (PDF - 4133 Kb) |
• Volume 2 - Disability Care and Support (PDF - 2218 Kb) |

The Victorian Department of Health has released, August 2011, The Framework for Recovery-oriented Practice.
The framework identifies the principles, capabilities, practices and leadership that should underpin a recovery-oriented approach to mental health service delivery.
See also: Warren Jenkins submission on behalf of MHCAA to Federal Health Dept urging greater emphasis on Recovery models.
Download::Framework for Recovery-oriented Practice

National Mental Health Consumer & Carer Forum Submission submitted to the Senate Community Affairs Committee Enquiry into Commonwealth Funding and Administration of Mental Health Services.
Extract::
It will be imperative that the budget initiatives:

• support the implementation of the Fourth National Mental Health Plan in guiding recovery based approaches to mental health
• acknowledge the considerable change management initiatives required to implement a recovery approach to the development and implementation of mental health services
• include effective mechanisms to utilise the expertise of mental health consumers and carers to inform the implementation process and involve them in service design and implementation in an ongoing way
• include effective mechanisms to better integrate with disability and community support services and draw from their experience in the provision of psychosocial disability support as an essential element of holistic mental health care
• are monitored closely to ensure that they are implemented in the most strategic way, capitalising on current evidence about what does and doesn’t work in mental health
• are informed by identified population needs
• become a very first step in ongoing reform in the sector, and that ongoing policy includes acknowledgment that more key areas will need to be addressed before the foundation for reforming the mental health system can be considered complete
• build on the COAG National Action Plan on Mental Health 2006-11 and any further COAG initiatives.

In this submission the NMHCCF will discuss the importance of the formation of partnerships with consumers and carers as part of a process to drive the implementation of recovery focussed reforms in mental health and will highlight some of the major gaps that need to be addressed to ensure that this first round of mental health reform initiatives are successful.

Download:: National Mental Health Consumer & Carer Forum Submission