Mental illness touches nearly every Australian, yet our current mental health system (especially in rural and regional areas) is buckling under pressure.
In this column originally published on The Land, Robbie Sefton shares personal reflections and expert perspectives on why early intervention, community-led solutions, and a serious rethink of funding models are critical to supporting those at risk.
We can’t afford to keep leaving people behind.
10 February 2025
Insight from: Robbie Sefton
It’s a sad reality that all of us know someone – or probably multiple people – who are impacted by mental illness. For a percentage of us, that’s someone very close to us who we’ve watched struggle, and who we’ve tried to help as much as we can, but can relate all too well to feelings of frustration, helplessness and fear that comes from not knowing what’s around the next corner or if they’ll find the support they need. Because, while some Australians will find the support and expertise they need, too many more will fall through the cracks.
I think we all appreciate the level of concern around our current mental health services, and particularly if you live in rural and regional areas where access and waiting times can be even more critical. That’s not to say community service organisations and other providers aren’t doing all they can within the current framework. But the issues they’re dealing with were really brought home to me in a number of articles I read recently, one of them with comments from Professor Pat McGorry AO, one of Australia’s leading psychiatrists and mental health advocates, who I’ve had the pleasure of working with in a number of different capacities over the years. Professor McGorry AO has never shied away from the reality of the state of the nation’s mental health support structure, while also working tirelessly to improve it.
In the article I saw, he said the system remained ‘broken’ and was ‘on its knees’ in many parts of the country, and again emphasised the need for early intervention, particularly for our young people. Another mental health advocate broke the issue down into a number of focal points, and like Professor McGorry AO has on so many occasions, said more resources for mental health services would actually save the nation money, surely a cost-benefit argument our policy-makers can’t ignore.
There was also a story on a Northern Territory community embracing a project aimed at getting young Indigenous youth into employment, an initiative and investment that ticks so many boxes when it comes to not only addressing the issue of jobs for the young, but also has the potential to impact the likes of crime rates, homelessness and reliance on the health and mental health systems. Because, with so many initiatives like this one, there are potential positive ramifications across a range of societal issues and challenges – soften they just don’t work in isolation.
And so, too, it is with mental health – it is not just a health issue. Yes, health right across the board needs urgent attention with the likes of funding and workforce and recruitment initiatives, but there are so many other indirect actions that would assist those Australians who are in need right now. When you consider where we are currently and what countless experts in the field are saying, perhaps we need policy-makers, stakeholders, medical professionals and those with lived experience coming together in some way and considering the likes of new models of funding and care that Australians can rely on when and where they need it. We can’t go on as we are, leaving some of our most vulnerable citizens to a system that is currently failing them.
