As part of the Australian Government’s response to COVID-19, $74 million has been announced to support the mental health and wellbeing of all Australians during this challenging time.
From WA Primary Health Alliance’s perspective, this funding will assist the many general practices and service providers WA Primary Health Alliance works with to confidently refer to and deliver mental health services, as well as give individuals more options if they need to reach out for support, which many will for a number of reasons.
More than $28 million will be used to continue to deliver psychosocial support to Commonwealth community mental health clients for a further 12 months.
This will allow WA Primary Health Alliance additional time to ensure the service providers we fund to deliver this specialised support can support people with severe and complex mental illness to complete their applications and testing for support under the NDIS.
For older and younger Australians $10 million will go towards the Community Visitors Scheme to ensure older people in aged care are not socially isolated, while headspace will receive $6.75 million to help young Western Australians with their education and training.
A further $10 million will be used to create a dedicated coronavirus wellbeing support line, delivered by Beyond Blue, while $14 million will go towards bolstering the capacity of mental health support providers who have taken on an unprecedented workload.
Health workers, who are at the frontline of the pandemic, will get dedicated mental health support through digital platforms developed to provide advice, support and assistance in managing stress and anxiety.
Gayaa Dhuwi will develop culturally appropriate mental health and wellbeing resources for Aboriginal Australians, whose elders and communities are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of coronavirus.
Last but definitely not least, a new national communications campaign, In This Together, will provide information about maintaining mental wellbeing and where to find further information, support and care.
You can find out more in the Prime Minister’s media release.
Additional Resources
The Government’s digital mental health portal, Head to Health, will act as a single source of information on how to maintain good mental health during the pandemic.
It also provides information on how to support children and loved ones and how to access further mental health services and care.
Additional resources for looking after your mental health include: