40,000 Forgotten Australians

40,000 Forgotten Australians

In 2007, MIFA undertook the Australians Talk Mental Illness survey ahead of that year's Federal Election to gain an overview of the central issues confronting people with a mental illness and their loved one.

More than 2,000 responses from all over Australia.

The responses they provided presented a compelling snapshot of the experiences, opinions and feelings that a variety of Australians have towards mental health issues and the shortfalls they perceived in the then Federal Government's handling of those issues.

The top Federal issues identified in the survey included:

• Appropriate housing and support;
• Consumer and carer education and support;
• Social security impacts on consumers and carers;
• Employment opportunities; and
• Research to develop evidence based service models delivered in the community.

In 2010, MIFA commissioned new research to provide an update of the issues identified in the survey of 2007.

The results show that there is still a lot of work to be done. By the Federal Government's own estimates, more than 40,000 Australians do not have access to the basic mental health services they need.

To find out more about, you can download the summary of this year's research in 40,000 People Missing Out On Mental Health Services.

Or, you can download the individual positions papers for each of the top issues identified in 2007's Australians Talk Mental Illness.

• Appropriate housing and support;
• Consumer and carer education and support;
• Social security impacts on consumers and carers;
• Employment opportunities; and
• Research to develop evidence based service models delivered in the community.