Tuesday, 8 March 2022

Mental health reform

Mr HAMER (Box Hill) (19:13): (6251) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Mental Health, and the action I seek is for the minister to provide my community with an update on the mental health investments that the Andrews government has made to service the needs of residents in the Box Hill electorate.

It was just over one year ago that this Parliament had a historic joint sitting in the Royal Exhibition Building, at which the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System report was tabled. Establishing the royal commission into mental health was a key commitment of the Andrews government leading into the 2018 election and was the first of its kind nationwide, and I want to pay tribute to the minister at the table at the moment, the Minister for Health, the former Minister for Mental Health, who oversaw this royal commission through to its end point. The royal commission undertook a forensic examination of the existing system and the support networks in place. For far too long this broken system had been lamented but overlooked, with the tough decisions and investments not made. I am proud to be part of a government that has committed $3.8 billion in this year’s budget to implement every single recommendation outlined in the royal commission’s report. This transformational investment will deliver Victorians the mental health system and support that they need at a time when the challenges of managing COVID-19 have brought more pressure to bear on the mental health and wellbeing of Victorians than perhaps ever before. But it is not just the dollar amount that counts; it is the impact that this funding has at a local level in improving the lives of local residents. I look forward to the minister’s response.