Mental health advocacy groups call for more funding for prevention in the Mid West

A mental health advocacy group says the State Government must funnel more money into supporting people in distress before they reach breaking point, warning services in the Mid West and Gascoyne are desperately underfunded. Geraldton-based Order of Australia Medal recipient and charity mover and shaker Ros Worthington has thrown her weight behind the WA Association for Mental Health’s Prevent Support Heal campaign. Together, they want the State’s prevention spend to rise from one per cent to 5 per cent of the overall mental health budget. They also want to see a massive boost — from 5 to 22 per cent — to the State’s community mental health services spend, meaning more funding for services that support people outside of a crisis. WA Association for Mental Health chief executive Taryn Harvey said under the current system people were being turned away because they weren’t sick enough. In 2018-19, Mental Health Commission figures show the State Government only provided 2468 hours of community support in the Mid West and Gascoyne — a far cry from the reported 163,000 hours required to address mental health in the region. Ms Worthington said people were falling through the gaps of the health system when experiencing mental distress — something she’s painfully qualified to know about. In 2002, Ms Worthington’s husband Ross took his own life after many years of mental health issues. She said the experience of caring for and losing her husband had helped her realise mental illness did not just affect one person at a time, but devastated entire communities. After experiencing that loss, she began working with Lifeline WA and is now widely known for establishing WA fundraising events the Black Diamond Ball and the Out of the Shadows Walk. She has also worked one-on-one with others who have lost loved ones to suicide, and she said she firmly believed a focus on prevention and community support was critical. “I feel passionately there must be more funding for grassroots organisations at the coalface of the mental suffering of our loves ones. As it stands now, needs are simply not being met due to the lack of funding,” she said. “When you're holding a sobbing mother in your arms because she just lost her 13-year-old son, there’s something wrong.” In total, the State Government has allocated more than $1 billion to mental health services in WA in its 2020-21 Budget — a record-setting figure. The latest addition to Geraldton’s State-funded mental health providers opened last month and will take residents from March. The Step Up Step Down facility is for those at risk of mental health admission to hospital, and for people who need a safe place to transition out of care. At the opening, Premier Mark McGowan said: “The establishment of this service will give people living in the Mid West region an extra option for their mental health treatment and support, keeping them connected to their support network, and alleviates pressure on our hospital services.” Lifeline 13 11 14