Yesterday, the Productivity Commission released its interim report into the Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Agreement.
The National Mental Health Consumer Alliance (NMHCA) of which BEING is a member has released a statement in response, welcoming the Productivity Commission’s conclusion that our mental health system is fundamentally flawed and celebrating their agreement with what mental health consumers have been saying for decades: that real reform isn’t possible without us.
The NMHCA goes on to call for urgent, structural reform grounded in lived expertise and human rights with 4 key recommendations supporting co-design and increased funding:
- Establish a National Mental Health Chief Consumer Officer with equal authority to clinical leads
- Invest in peer-led, non-coercive alternatives to hospital-based crisis care
- Enact national human rights legislation to protect mental health consumers from coercion and discrimination
- Resource consumer-led peaks at national and state levels to lead, not just participate in, system reform.
Following its publication, the Productivity Commission is now inviting feedback on this interim report.
BEING intends to make a formal submission based on our review of the interim report but we strongly encourage all of our members to read and provide their own personal feedback to ensure that the final report is as robust and inclusive as possible.
Submissions are open now and must be made no later than 31 July.
Click here to visit the Productivity Commission website to download and feedback on the interim report.