August 2023
NDIS Review 2023
We make with this submission a clarion call for the need for increased focus on
prevention, on early support and on holistic approaches which recognise and respond to the underlying social determinants of mental health. All of these responses and alternative types of support/system improvements must be adequately funded. It is also imperative that there be adequate investment in mainstream and disability supports, services and systems outside the NDIS (Tier 2) such that the NDIS does not remain an “oasis in the desert”.
August 2023
ACT Preventive Health Action Plan 2023-2025
The ACT Government is to be congratulated for prioritising prevention in the ‘Healthy Canberra’ Plan and the Action Plans. MHCC ACT also acknowledges the community consultation undertaken by the ACT Government to refine this Action Plan. This Action Plan moves forward and refines a number of the actions identified in the previous Action Plan. MHCC ACT acknowledges the value of moving the previous Action Plans’ ‘actions and responsibilities’ into a ‘program logic’ structure of ‘objectives, actions, responsibilities, outcomes, and indicators’.
However, there also are significant gaps in the Action Plan, which lacks detail as a plan to implement the ‘Healthy Canberra’ plan. These gaps include actions for the stated priorities of priority populations, mental health, climate change, and equitable access. It is also missing actions on other priority issues, such as loneliness and isolation, lived experience, stigma and discrimination. Any prevention plan must necessarily address structural causes, and so the determinants of health are also a critical, yet overlooked, consideration.
This submission reflects the voices of MHCC ACT members, their experiences and expertise in delivering community-based mental health services in the ACT. Whilst it focuses on mental health elements in the Action Plan, it also discusses aspects of the plan that are inter-related with mental health, such as climate change. This submission focusses on the importance of integration and collaboration with the community sector in achieving preventive health outcomes in the ACT.