Mental health services losing staff due to funding uncertainty

I move that the Senate:

1. notes the effects of Commonwealth funding uncertainty on the mental health sector, including staff loss, a reduction in services to clients and declining staff morale;

2. understands that 40 per cent of mental health organisations have already experienced loss of staff due to funding uncertainty, as outlined in a survey by Mental Health Australia;    

3. notes that skilled mental health practitioners have commenced leaving rural communities to find work in urban areas due to employment uncertainty;  

4. recognises that mental health organisations will soon be required under law to give notice to staff whose jobs are no longer secure as a result of Commonwealth funding uncertainty;

5. acknowledges the financial and mental health impacts of job insecurity for those working in the mental health sector; and   

6. calls on the Federal Government to urgently end the funding uncertainty plaguing the mental health sector and give organisations the confidence they need to plan ahead and continue to provide vital mental health services for Australians. 

This motion received the support of the Senate.