Tuesday, 9 December 2025

 Ingrid STITT (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Mental Health, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (22:47): In the last adjournment for 2025 there were 17 adjournment matters to 15 separate ministers, and written responses will be sought in accordance with the standing orders.

There was a matter from Mr Luu to me in my mental health portfolio, which I am happy to acquit now. I will try and be succinct, given that it is 10 to 11 on the last sitting day of the year. Mr Luu raised a matter in relation to Mental Health Victoria’s report on the royal commission’s work and the implementation of the royal commission recommendations by the government. I will say from the outset that there is no jurisdiction in the country that is investing more and doing more work to reform the mental health system than the work that we are doing here in Victoria. We have already delivered significant reform to grow our workforce, to deliver increases in the number of acute mental health beds in new services, to improve our infrastructure and, importantly, to embed lived experience into that reform work.

We are able to invest significantly in the mental health reforms that we are driving because of the fact that we have a dedicated levy. That levy continues to be dedicated solely to mental health services spending, and it has supported a large increase in investment in Victoria’s mental health services. This is a complex 10-year reform journey, and we need to make sure that we are adapting to the changed landscape, and I think that is something I can agree with the Mental Health Victoria report on. It is not a static system that we are operating. Work is underway on the vast majority of recommendations, and many have already been delivered in full. It is important to note that each recommendation contains sub-recommendations, and many recommendations are interdependent with one another, so the order in which they are delivered is actually relevant here. My department reports every year on the delivery of key royal commission reforms through the Chief Officer for Mental Health and Wellbeing in the annual report. In addition, The Next Phase of Reform plan, which I released in December last year, provides a detailed breakdown of the progress to date and the work that we plan to prioritise in the coming months and years.

In terms of some of the major investments and delivery of improved services our government has undertaken, we have invested more than $600 million to support, retain and grow the workforce and increase the workforce by 25 per cent. We have delivered more than 170 acute beds for adults, young people, women and older Victorians, and we have also increased the number of hospital-in-the-home beds. We have established the Mental Health Capital Renewal Fund, which received another $10 million in the 2025–26 budget. We have delivered mental health and alcohol and other drug emergency department hubs. The commission asked us to deliver hubs in each region, but we have gone further than that – we have five AOD and mental health hubs that are already operational around the state, with another eight in the pipeline. That is all about addressing the pressure on our emergency departments from those that present in mental health crisis.

We have invested about $140 million to deliver initiatives to improve lived experience and put carers and consumers front and centre in developing a lived experience leadership strategy. We have delivered 22 local services in 24 locations, which is the missing middle in our system, which means that almost 30,000 Victorians have been able to access free mental health supports in their own communities without the need to pay for those services through a private provider. We have expanded our multidisciplinary social and emotional wellbeing teams to our ACCHOs across Victoria to support First Nations people, and we have awarded 63 scholarships to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students undertaking undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications in mental health.

In relation to children and young people, we have delivered three dedicated children’s locals and youth prevention and recovery centres, one in each region in the state, and we are undertaking foundational reforms, including age streaming and improving Headspace integration. In terms of safety, we are progressing the mental health improvement program through Safer Care Victoria and delivering important infrastructure upgrades in intensive care areas. We are continuing to back our workforce when it comes to occupational violence and reducing those risks in the workplace.

I think it is always important – and I am sorry, it is late – to be accurate about the types of services that are being delivered through our government’s reforms. I am proud to continue that work, and I look forward to those services being expanded even further right across the state so that people in Victoria, no matter where they live or their background or their postcode, can have access to the mental health services that they deserve and need.

The PRESIDENT: The house stands adjourned.

House adjourned 10:53 pm.