Weak Leadership, Callous Cuts & Failure to Deliver on Mental Healthcare is Costing Australian Lives

One of Parliament’s leading mental health advocates, Andrew Wallace, has called on the Government to “wake up and get on with their job” after leading mental health bodies including Suicide Prevention Australia demanded the release of the Government’s long-awaited National Suicide Prevention Strategy for consultation.

This comes after Suicide Prevention Australia’s Community Tracker research showed that, for the first time in Australia’s history, more than half of Australian families are experiencing the mental health impacts of cost-of-living distress.

Wallace, who serves as the Co-Chair for the Parliamentary Friendship Groups for both Mental Health and Eating Disorder Awareness, highlighted the latest delay as another example of weak and “gutless” leadership when it comes to Australians’ mental health. He claimed that Labor’s plan for mental healthcare was careless and callous cuts, for which Australians are paying the ultimate price.

“Peak bodies, experts, and parents have been calling for the Albanese Government to urgently release its National Suicide Prevention Strategy for consultation – and rightfully so. We’ve seen what happens when this Labor Government touches mental health policy. They cannot be trusted to do the right thing,” Mr Wallace said.

“Labor inherited a $3 billion Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Strategy which addressed a host of mental health issues, from eating disorders to PTSD. One of Anthony Albanese first decisions as Prime Minister was to slash Medicare funding for psychologist visits – against the advice of experts and practitioners, and the demands of vulnerable Australians everywhere,” Mr Wallace continued.

“Since 2022, Labor have carelessly and callously cut funding to mental healthcare for veterans, first responders, young people, and regional Australians. They’ve dismantled telehealth and driven out local services, just as their home-grown cost-of-living crisis brutally bears down on the mental health of everyday Australians,” Mr Wallace added.

“Industry, participants, experts and the Opposition must have an opportunity to contribute to the National Suicide Prevention Strategy if we want to boost mental health services and outcomes, and prevent the devastating scourge of suicide.”

“Every day this Government delays is another day in which Australian lives are lost to suicide – under the watch of a Labor Government with no plan for Australians’ mental health. If this Prime Minister is unwilling to demonstrate the leadership we need on the big issues confronting Australian families, then he should step aside or call an election.” Mr Wallace concluded.

The Coalition has committed to restoring the Better Access Initiative, which would double the amount of psychologist visits available to vulnerable Australians under Medicare. This is in addition to increased funding for women’s health services, bold social media reforms to keep kids safe, and a $400 million GP incentive program to restore regional general practice services in light of Labor’s regional heath crisis.