This week the Federal Government announced it will be investing $89 million in a national study of mental health and wellbeing. The results will be used to provide a new baseline for Australia’s mental health policies.
As Australia’s largest mental health workforce, this presents an enormous opportunity for psychological science to sit at the heart of the design and evaluation of this research.
Psychology is fundamentally informed by science and evidence-based care drives everything we do. It informs our practice, our ethical guidelines and is central to how the APS and you, our members, function. As a profession it is also what sets us apart.
From our involvement in the frontline mental health care of Australians during the bushfires and the COVID-19 pandemic, to our essential role in primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare settings across the country, psychologists are a fundamental and important part of the mental health landscape in Australia. It is essential that APS psychologists are involved in the design of this study from the beginning.
The APS has already shared our support for this initiative with Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt, National Mental Health Commission chief executive Christine Morgan and the National Mental Health Commission.
We have voiced this support via the media this week, and will be in close contact with Minister Hunt’s office over the coming weeks. We look forward to updating members on our progress.
Finally, it is important to note that in response to the final report from the Productivity Commission’s Inquiry into Mental Health, the APS also called on the Government to seize the opportunity to create generational reform for the nation’s mental health services. The Productivity Commission report outlined a clear need for a whole-of-government mental health strategy. It is heartening to see that a research initiative of this magnitude tangibly supports those recommendations.
This $89 million study forms phase one of the Government’s Intergenerational Health and Mental Health Study, which will run until 2023 and involve 60,000 participants. The APS understands this will also include general health, diet, physical activity and biomedical health.
Tamara Cavenett FAPS GAICD
APS President
Further reading
APS media release | Psychologists welcome $89m mental health study
Media release from Minister Hunt | National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing gets underway
ABC Statewide Drive NSW | APS CEO discusses the importance of the national mental health study (time stamp 1:14:20)