The Abbott Government must address unmet mental health needs

I move that the Senate-

(a) welcomes, after significant delay, the release of the National Mental Health Commission's Report of the National Review of Mental Health Programmes and Services, which found:

(i) mental health care in Australia often comes too late, is fragmented, fails to prevent crisis situations, and often does not take into account a person's broader social needs,

(ii) inadequate responses to significantly higher rates of mental distress, trauma, suicide and intentional self-harm among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and

(iii) mental health funding is concentrated in expensive acute care services, and too little is directed towards prevention and early intervention strategies; and

(b) calls on the Government to expeditiously progress reform of the mental health sector and address the significant unmet mental health needs of Australians.

This motion received the support of the Senate