Not-for-profit frontline mental health services are being forced to beg for small change as they manage the fall-out from the mental health funding model.
A Greens campaign to properly fund mental health through Medicare cites recent Australian Bureau of Statistics data showing that 43% of people will experience mental health issues in their life and 24% of people who need to see a psychologist will either delay, or not try, because of the cost.
Mental Health Australia CEO Carolyn Nikoloski said unmet need has a significant impact. “[It impacts] the wellbeing for people experiencing mental ill-health, and their family, carers and supporters. It is also a missed opportunity for investment in a well-functioning and efficient mental health system.”
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare reported that federal spending on mental health currently includes $1.5 billion for Medicare and Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme components, $8.1 billion to the states and territories and a staggering $13.2 billion on mental health-related services.
Yet, some key frontline organisations still are not getting their fair share.
Griefline’s recent brush with closure is a case in point. Australia’s only free grief and loss counselling service, it has been helping people navigate bereavement since 1987 and is the only service of its kind. Griefline answers about 30,000 calls and 50,000 online engagements every year, as well as providing accredited training services. It also recently opened a Voluntary Assisted Dying grief service in partnership with Dying With Dignity Victoria.
Yet, when Griefline received its funding agreement for this financial year, it was only allocated $200,000. Griefline CEO Kate Cahill told Green Left it was never going to be enough.
“We flagged about 18 months ago that’s a gap of about $600,000, because it costs us around $800,000 to fund the helpline for a year,” Cahill said. Advised to tender for the shortfall, through the digital health tender, Griefline were stunned when told it was unsuccessful.
Despite taking referrals from many other mental health services across the country, including hospitals and helplines, the reason given was their service “wasn’t unique and didn’t have a broad enough reach”.
After discovering Red Nose had been awarded additional funding without a competitive tender, Griefline mounted a campaign to have its funding properly addressed. The grassroots campaign was successful: health minister Mark Butler soon learned just how important Griefline is for many.
“We had an outpouring of support from sector partners, from people that have used the service and from our volunteers,” Cahill said.
“Support for the service was so strong it resulted in an 11th hour intervention from minister Butler and we’ve now got the top-up funding to enable us to keep trading for this year, with the opportunity to apply for a grant for three years of funding from July.”
But because the government is in caretaker mode, Griefline is not yet able to apply — it’s not alone. “There are 15 other organisations in this digital mental health space that are all waiting for that grant opportunity to open up,” Cahill said.
“Then we’ll be able to apply for a non-competitive grant for $500,000 a year for three years. But we will still need to reach out to community, corporate and philanthropic partners for the [$300,000] shortfall.”
Cahill says Griefline and its supporters will continue to lobby government to properly fund vital services. Supporters can help by sharing their stories about how Griefline helped them or by purchasing training modules.
[You can donate to Griefline here.]