Recent News
Gambling with Australia’s mental health
The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists
25 January 2012
The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists is concerned about the detrimental impact of gambling on the mental health of the Australian community. While welcoming the government’s decision to conduct a trial to assess the effectiveness or otherwise of mandatory pre-commitment on poker machines The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists is calling on the government to remain committed to ultimately introducing gambling reforms.
“It is essential that something is done about gambling to limit its adverse mental health impacts. With regards to poker machines as well as the possible use of pre-commitment there are mechanisms such as limiting the size of bets to $1 and lowering jackpots to $500 which can be effective for problem gamblers. The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists calls on the government to remain committed to taking real action in this area,” said Dr Maria Tomasic, President of The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists...(read on)
Open for Business: Australia’s First National Mental Health Commission
Jan 23 2012
The Minister for Mental Health and Ageing, Mark Butler, today launched Australia’s first National Mental Health Commission.
Today’s launch marks a significant milestone in the rollout of the Gillard Government’s mental health reforms and will give mental health the prominence it deserves at the national level.
The Commission is led by the Chair, Professor Allan Fels and eight Commissioners, and will formally meet for the first time tomorrow to begin work on Australia’s first National Report Card on Mental Health and Suicide Prevention...(read on)
Mental health plan 'too vague' to be of use
Adam Cresswell | The Australian | 18 Jan 2012
MENTAL health experts have delivered a mixed assessment of the federal government's new 10-year plan for mental health services, with many suggesting it contains too few specific goals and targets to be useful.
The 42-page document, released for public comment yesterday by Mental Health and Ageing Minister Mark Butler and Families Minister Jenny Macklin, sets out overarching objectives, such as a greater emphasis on early detection and treatment and increased support for mental health patients to participate in society. But it mostly avoids setting specific targets to be reached by a given date, or suggesting how its outcomes should be achieved....(read on)
Government defends mental health consultation
ABC News | 17 Jan 2012
The Opposition says the Federal Government has not given the public enough time to comment on the future of the mental health sector. The Government has released a 10-year draft plan for spending billions of dollars to improve mental health services, including those for asylum seekers.
The draft has flagged extra support to help people with a mental health condition to stay in work and live in the community. The public has until the end of the month to comment on the draft plan, a time frame the Opposition says is too short....(read on)
Protecting Queensland
Weather events are getting more severe and when a major weather event hits, you need to be prepared. As a community, we need to take practical action to prepare us all for coming severe weather events, and protect homes, family, pets and neighbours. Visit hardenup.org to find out how to prepare the upcoming wet season.
Federal government announces mental health reform
Lanai Vasek | The Australian | 17 Jan
MENTALLY ill people will get more government help to find a job and stay in the workforce under a national 10-year roadmap for mental health reform released today. Mental Health Minister Mark Butler said undertaking paid work was "critical" to a person's recovery from ill mental health and the draft roadmap, endorsed by all state and territory governments, laid out a plan to make that a reality for sufferers.
"Our roadmap recognises that good mental health is a whole-of-life issue and that non-clinical support is just important as the clinical support we provide," Mr Butler told The Australian Online. "Undertaking paid work and being able to participate in meaningful activity and make social connections can be critical to people's recovery from mental illness."...(read on)
Psychosis prevention gets a boost
Kate Hagan | The Age | 16 Jan 2012
AN ADDITIONAL 1200 young people will receive specialised mental health treatment under an ambitious Victorian government bid to expand former Australian of the Year Patrick McGorry's early psychosis model across the state.
At present about 200 people aged 15 to 24 receive treatment after an initial episode of psychosis at the sole such facility in Australia, Orygen Youth Health in Parkville, where Professor McGorry is director.
The federal government made a pre-election promise of $222 million to create an additional 16 early psychosis prevention and intervention centres (EPPICs) around Australia, with states asked to fund half of their ongoing cost...(read on)
Queenslanders still rebuilding lives
Ninemsn | Jan 3 2012
North Queensland's iconic boot may have been shined but Acting Premier Andrew Fraser says people devastated by last summer's natural disasters are still rebuilding their lives. Mr Fraser on Tuesday inspected reconstruction efforts at Tully and announced almost $1 million in funding for local mental health services. "Just because the focus has moved away, just because the building of homes is under way, just because the rebuilding of infrastructure is still under way, it doesn't mean that lives are completely rebuilt," he told reporters, adding that many people were still locked in battles with their insurers.
"As resilient as they are and used to they are in dealing with high rainfall and the occasional cyclone ... we need to make sure that we provide not just for the hard infrastructure, but also for the community's well being."...(read on)
The terrible despair that blighted my career
Nikki Murfitt | Mail Online | 31 Dec 2011
It’s one of the iconic moments of joy in British sport: Freddie Flintoff, the swashbuckling colossus of the England cricket team, revelling in the cheers of the crowds in Trafalgar Square after his all-night celebration of the triumph over Australia in the 2005 Ashes. Yet 18 months later, Flintoff was crippled by such despair he was hardly able to get out of bed and wholly lost his joy for the game. He turned to drink and feared he had a serious illness.
Speaking for the first time about his anguish, Flintoff said: ‘I didn’t understand what was happening to me. I felt tired and miserable and I was tested for everything, including diabetes.’..(read on)
Brad gets shoes on to test the kindness of strangers
Megan Doherty | 24 Dec 2011
It's probably the first time a beer ad has inspired someone to run from one end of the country to the other. Duffy man Brad Carron-Arthur heads off on New Year's Day to run 4000km from Canberra to Cape York with just a tiny backpack and his iPod. There will be no support crew. He'll have to rely on the kindness of strangers or hostels for accommodation and source his own food - a big ask seeing he gets through a fair whack of Weet-Bix, pasta and potatoes each day.
The epic journey is to raise funds for the Australian Foundation for Mental Health Research at the Australian National University. ''It was [from] growing up with someone who suffered a mental illness and, quite amazingly, they didn't know it for many years, well, none of us did, really,'' he said...(read on)
MHCA Young Carers Project Survey
If you are 13-18 years old and care for someone with a mental illness, the Mental Health Council of Australia will pay you $20 to share your experiences. The Young Mental Health Carers Survey is part of an ongoing project to find out more about the lives of mental health carers so that we can focus our work to support young people like you, who are caring for someone with a mental illness.
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www.facebook.com/youngcarersproject
