Latest News

Harriet Shing MP:
Putting the Mental Health of Victorians First in Eastern Victoria

Victorian Budget 2020/21 will include $868.6 million to ensure Victorians have the mental health support.

By Portal Admin - 22nd November 2020 - Back to News

Today Member for Eastern Victoria and Parliamentary Secretary for Mental Health Harriet Shing welcomed the announcement from the Premier and Deputy Premier that the Victorian Budget 2020/21 will include $868.6 million to ensure Victorians have the mental health support they need as we get on with fixing a broken system.

This includes funding the rollout of the interim recommendations from the Royal Commission into Mental Health, including $492 million to deliver 120 mental health beds in Geelong, Epping, Sunshine and Melbourne. This is an addition to the 24 Hospital in the Home beds announced earlier this year bringing the total to 144.

An additional $18.9 million is provided for 35 acute treatments beds for public mental health patients in private health services.

The Budget invests $21.4 million to support the state-wide expansion of the Hospital Outreach Post-Suicidal Engagement (HOPE) service, with individual, intensive and one-on-one support for Victorians as they rebuild their lives. Completion of the state-wide rollout will deliver services in Albury-Wodonga, Bairnsdale, Ballarat, Broadmeadows, Box Hill, Clayton, Epping, Heidelberg, Mildura, Parkville, Shepparton and Warrnambool.

As we begin the work to rebuild our system, learning from the lived experiences of Victorians is vital. It’s why $2.2 million will help design the Victorian Collaborative Centre for Mental Health and Wellbeing, a new centre dedicated to bringing together the experts on our mental health system – researchers, academics and those who’ve experienced it firsthand.

A further $16 million will help those same Victorians use their own very real and personal experience to support and champion for others in need – with new training positions, education and opportunities for employment. This includes $7.3 million for a service designed and delivered by people with lived experience.

The Budget also includes $8.7 million to establish a residential mental health service, specifically designed and delivered by those with lived experience. This service will deliver short-term care and support in a residential community setting, designed as a true alternative to acute hospital-based care.

The Budget includes additional training opportunities to support students and job seekers looking to pursue a career in the mental health sector. It includes $1.9 million for allied health, nursing and medical undergraduates to work part-time in community mental health settings while completing their studies. A further $3.1 million will support experienced general nurses to retrain as mental health nurses; and $7.7 million for specialist training roles in child and adolescent psychiatry to address the shortage of trained psychiatrists in these roles, including in regional areas.

A further $7.7 million in funding is provided to begin to address workforce shortages in the mental health sector, to support future expansion of the workforce. This includes funding to increase the annual number of junior medical officer psychiatrist rotations, graduate nurses and postgraduate mental health nurse scholarships.

The Budget also delivers $20 million towards upgrading state-owned facilities across Victoria. The Budget will also deliver an extra 19,000 hours for community mental health support

Supporting the mental health of our young people will remain critical as we begin our recovery, with this year’s Budget investing $47.8 million dedicated to early intervention support for young people – recognising that sometimes the most important help is the earliest help, as well as $7 million to support critical research into youth mental health and operations at the Orygen centre.

Quotes attributable to Member for Eastern Victoria and Parliamentary Secretary for Mental Health Harriet Shing

"This state budget funding is an incredibly important part of delivering and implementing the initial Recommendations from the Mental Health Royal Commission. It will make an enormous difference in the availability of care and treatment, increase workforce numbers and training, and improve the outcomes for patients, clients, and consumers of mental health and well-being support services."

"As we reopen the state and continue the social, economic and community recovery from the worst public health crisis in our lifetimes, this funding will be crucial to addressing shortcomings in the Victorian mental health system."

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: support@gippsland.com

If you are the author of this story you can edit it by clicking here

• More Mental Health Support for Students in West Gippsland and the Latrobe Valley
  Access to the school-based mental health support for secondary students soon.
• New mental health jobs and support for the Latrobe Valley
  Postgraduate nurses for mental health scholarship being appreciated.
• COVID lockdowns leave Victorian kids' mental health worse than any other state, study finds
  Lockdown effects on young Victorian’s mental health.
• Vulnerable Victorians waiting days in hospital ED for mental health beds
  Government must prioritise processing and fixing Victoria’s mental health system.
• National Mental Health Month Begins Today
  Mental Health Foundation Australia (MHFA) to raise awareness of Mental Health
• Victorians Urged to Prepare for Fire Season
  Fire Action Week runs until 25 October, a time for households to increase their understanding of local fire risks, prepare their properties and plan how to stay safe.
• Healthy diet leads to better mental health
  A campaign for eating healthy diet to keep us in shape and avoid mental distress.
• Vulnerable Victorians spiralling to crisis point while Labor turns a blind eye
  Unreported performance data on close monitoring of clients who had gone further treatment for drug and alcohol addiction.
• Empowering Eastern Victorians to take charge of their energy bills
  Government project that will support and bring community owned and operated renewable energy.
• Regional Victorians still in a state of uncertainty
  Government has not made agreements to make Victoria stable.
• Final report into broken mental health system delayed
  Mental health final report delayed.
• Putting Gippsland people first
  No Victorian left behind with the Victorian Budget 2020/21.
• Eastern Victorian businesses going digital for Covid normal
  Launch of the Victorian Government’s Small Business Digital Adaptation Program.
• New VicHealth Funding Available
  $2.5 million in new funding to support local organisations to address the immediate health and wellbeing concerns of Victorians hardest hit by the impact coronavirus pandemic.
• Liberal Nationals Release New Plan to get Victorians Back to Work and Back in Business
  Victoria needs a bold plan.
• Latrobe health ready for vaccine rollout
  People at high risk will be prioritised and be provided with safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine.
• Victoria’s Delayed Response still putting the Squeeze on Farmers
  Failure to get seasonal workers on farm.
• Victorian Shooters Targeted by Labor Government’s ‘Overreach’
  Unsolicited threat to take away firearms licences.
• Victorian Timber Workers an Endangered Species under Labor
  Code of Practice for Timber Production 2014 will do nothing to protect jobs.
• Lockdown triggers surge in demand for mental health support
  Victorian's plea to have their emotional and financial trauma to be prioritised by the government.
• 2021 Victorian junior landcare and biodiversity grants now open
  Grant application encouraging young people in protecting the environment.
• 2021 Victorian Youth Parliament Program Applications Now Open
  Youth Parliament program to encourage youth in raising awareness on important issues.
• Eastern Victoria Clubs Urged to Apply for Sport and Active Recreation Grants
  Applications are now open for the latest round of the Victorian Government’s 2020-21 Sporting Club Grants Program.
• Buck stops with Victorian Labor on stalled Murray Basin Rail Project
  Minister Jacinta Allan is attempting to rewrite history by handballing blame for the stalled Murray Basin Rail Project to the Federal Government.
• Youth Council Spreads Health Message
  Good Food for Mental Health project was identified to improve health and wellbeing outcomes for the Latrobe City population.
• Latrobe City Council calls for health improvements for Morwell
  City council’s call for action to improve and protect the community’s health.
• Have your say on Victoria‘s New Container Deposit Scheme
  Victorians can continue to dispose of their bottles with a 10 cent refund for aluminum, glass and plastic drink containers returned for recycling.
• Regional Victoria must benefit from state budget
  2020-21 Victorian State Budget should lay out a plan to restore Victorians’ lives and livelihoods.
• Growing Gippsland’s Future Health Workforce
  $200,000 for a feasibility study for a Community Health Hub and Clinic at the Gippsland campus in Churchill.
• Supporting Eastern Victoria’s Men’s Sheds
  Men in Eastern Victoria will continue to have places to connect, build new friendships and share skills.
• Rating changes will squeeze the life from Victorian fruit juice industry
  Government failing to stand against health star ratings of fruit juices and its economic contribution.
• Regional Victoria robbed in big borrowing, big debt labor budget
  Outspent on city-focused State Budget, delivered little for regional Victorians.
• Reclaim Victoria’s Title of the Foodie State
  There is a much-needed boost to the hospitality industry and make it cheaper for Victorians to eat out.
• Labor’s Got no Shame Steamrolling the Rights of Victorians
  Public Health and Wellbeing Act allows a person who suffers loss arising from a direction of the Chief Health Officer to apply to the Secretary for compensation.
• Simple Change to Restrictions will transform Pain Relief for Victorians in Need
  Urgent need to reopen community pools to people with a disability for hydrotherapy treatment and water-based pain relief activities.
• First Look at Latrobe Regional Hospital Expansion
  Labor Government ensuring health services access to community
• Regional Victoria Moving to the Third Step
  Victoria comes out of the second wave.
• Regional Victoria to Take Third Step
  In the Third Step you can form household bubbles.which will allow households across regional Victoria to choose one other household to be in a bubble. You can visit them in their home and they can visit you – with up to a total of five visitors.
• Supporting the Landcare Jobs that Protect Eastern Victoria’s Environment
  8.967 million to support the Victorian Landcare Program and environmental volunteering.
• Multicultural Media Boost to Reach More Victorians
  Gippsland FM Community Radio Society Co-operative Ltd will receive $6300.00 to target the station's expanding podcasts menu.
• First in-person author talk post lockdown
  A new book to finding a new way of being, from the author Laura Waters.
• China Trade Barriers Hurting Victorian Farmers
  Labor Government stood still with Belt and Road deal despite punitive import suspensions.
• Long-lasting impacts of lockdown on regional Victorians
  Our most recent lockdown may have lasted five days, but the impacts will be long-lasting across our regional communities. Is the local government's lack of pandemic preparation making our state suffer?
• Dan’s Dodgy Belt and Road Selling out Victorian Producers
  No actions yet for China’s punitive 80 per cent tariff on Australian barley and further threats targeting wine and dairy exports.
• Statement on Regional Victoria Moving to the Third Step
  Towards recovery with the Third Step.
• Safety First when Renovating your Home
  Contact an asbestos professional before starting any work on your home.
• Dan’s Belt and Road Running over the top of Victorian Farmers
  Belt and road deal with China to push while import suspensions target Australian producers?
• Seasonal workers still not expectd in Victoria for two months, industry says
  Farmers in need of seasonal workers.
• Building a Sustainable Eastern Victoria
  $2.6 million Sustainable Infrastructure Fund grants opened to encourage the use of recycled materials in local infrastructure projects across Victoria.
• Big Housing Build for Eastern Victoria
  Biggest ever investment in public and community housing.
• Millions in Stamp Duty Savings for First Home Buyers
  First home buyers spared millions of dollars in stamp duty costs over the past financial year.
• Truth Masked by Minister on Mandatory Face Coverings for Regional Vic
  Regional Victorians need to continue to wear masks.
• Shocktober Campaign aims to help Save Lives in Regional Victoria
  Ambulance Victoria are encouraging communities to learn CPR and how to use an Automatic External Defibrillator (AED), everyday 18 Victorians suffer a cardiac arrest, this can happen to anyone anywhere at any time.
• Major boost for emergency services in Eastern Victoria
  Appreciating the emergency service volunteers through amenities and equipment improvement grants.
• Amazing multi-million dollar Gippsland Regional Aquatic Centre opens
  Opening of a new recreational centre with wide array of health and fitness activities for people across the region. It greatly improve the well-being of community benefits and help economic growth.
• Ride Nation Launches in Gippsland with First Bike Library
  Gippsland's first bike library.