A Dutton Coalition Government will invest $400 million to deliver a world-leading focus on youth mental health.
Australia is facing a youth mental health crisis.
Two out of five young Australians require access to mental health care, and over half a million of these young people with more complex mental health conditions have little to no access to appropriate specialist support.
Tragically, suicide is the leading cause of death for Australians aged 15 to 24 years old.
This crisis has been completely neglected by the Albanese Labor Government.
Unlike Labor, the Coalition will support the wellbeing of young Australians so they can lead fulfilling lives, with affordable access to specialist mental health care, where and when they need it.
As Health Minister, Peter Dutton created Australia’s National Centre for Excellence in Youth Mental Health in 2014 and expanded headspace to 100 centres.
We will build on that record by expanding the remit of the Centre to establish it as the National Institute for Youth Mental Health.
The National Institute will lead policy advice to government, undertake data analysis and research, commission Commonwealth-funded youth mental health services to deliver the best support for our young people, and develop and train the mental health workforce in this emerging field of health care.
A Dutton Coalition Government will also expand on the Early Psychosis Youth Services model to provide national coverage to world-leading mental health services for young Australians experiencing more chronic or complex mental health conditions.
We will extend the regions serviced by this model from eight to 20 and expand the diagnosis and treatment coverage to support a wide range of mental health conditions, including eating disorders, personality disorders, complex mood disorders and substance misuse.
These services will provide a warm, welcoming and safe environment for young people when they are most vulnerable. They will be staffed by clinical experts in youth mental health – psychiatrists, psychologists, case managers, social workers, occupational therapists and other allied health professionals, supported by young peer workers and family workers – to deliver first-class care.
We will also increase the capacity of existing headspace centres to address the greatest levels of unmet need in outer-metropolitan and regional centres.
Shadow Minister for Health, Senator Anne Ruston said that the youth mental health crisis has been made worse by Labor’s failures and neglect.
“Last year, a quarter of young Australians delayed or avoided seeking support for their mental health because they could not afford it.
“Despite this escalating crisis, mental health has been completely ignored in Labor’s Budget, as it has been for their entire term in government.
“Labor has slashed Medicare mental health funding in half, dissolved the National Mental Health Commission, and they were recently forced to backflip on cuts to at least 13 community mental health organisations.
“The Coalition will turn this situation around by ensuring all young Australians have access to the mental health support they need, when they need it.
“Importantly, the expanded Early Psychosis Youth Services model will address the ‘missing middle’, providing specialist care to young Australians who fall into the gap between primary care and state-based hospital services, so they are not locked out of desperately needed expert mental health care”.
This commitment builds on the Coalition's legacy, having established headspace as a trusted and recognised support service in 2006 and expanded them nationally to over 150 sites today.
It also comes on top of the Coalition’s $500 million commitment to restore Medicare-subsidised mental health support, from 10 to 20 sessions, on a permanent basis, after they were cut in half by Labor.
Only a Dutton Coalition Government will deliver a world-leaving focus on youth mental health and make this crisis a national priority.