Page 2831 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 14 August 2018
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budget also provides support for other vulnerable groups, including older Canberrans and those exiting the justice system. In particular, the budget includes $3.1 million to expand the older persons mental health intensive treatment service, providing recurrent funding after one-off allocations in previous budgets. The program provides assertive case management and clinical care to support older persons in the community or on discharge from hospital.
The government is also committed to investing in suicide prevention supports and this budget provides an additional $350,000 to continue the trial of the Way Back Support Service. Way back provides suicide after-care services at a time when people are at particularly high risk. This funding aligns with the expansion of this program in the federal budget, and we are in discussions with the commonwealth on what funding will mean for the ACT’s way back service.
As I mentioned earlier, mental illness can be severe for anyone, but it can be particularly damaging for children and teenagers if left untreated. Adolescence is a particularly vulnerable stage where young people are going through significant neurological development and where mental illness can have a major impact. The research is also clear that early intervention is critically important to reduce the impact of mental illness on a young person’s social, educational and vocational future, and investment early on also provides a broader benefit as young people are better able to contribute to our community as they develop.
That is why the government is continuing its focus on providing more support to young people with mental health concerns, and funding programs for children, adolescents and young people. As part of this, I am pleased to say we are investing $2.2 million to establish a recovery-focused community outreach program for young Canberrans aged 12 to 18 year and $1.3 million over the next three years to provide more clinical capacity at Headspace to support early intervention services for 12 to 25-year-olds and youth wellbeing programs.
While I have spoken about our commitment to building an adolescent inpatient ward, and planning for that facility is underway, our intention is to try to avoid hospital admission or readmission where possible and provide a clear path to recovery for young people and earlier intervention services where possible and appropriate. The youth-focused initiative in this year’s budget will go a long way to achieve this, and it builds on the initiatives such as the expansion of child and adolescent mental health services that were part of the 2017-18 budget.
Another budget initiative I am pleased to highlight is the $889,000 over three years to establish a mental health recovery college in the ACT. This is a great example of government working with the community to develop new and innovative approaches to mental health support. The recovery college will provide non-clinical mental health training and educational courses that will help facilitate early intervention, experience-based learning and peer support. It will not duplicate but will complement our existing clinical services. It will be based on models seen in other jurisdictions and will provide courses that are both mental health specific and holistic, encompassing broader topics that promote wellbeing. It is about providing people
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