Mental health

Many of you all would be painfully aware of the current inadequacies in the Mental Health system in Australia. I have written before about my beautiful friend that tragically took her own life in Dec 2009. Yes, there are many many dedicated workers but the funding is a joke, its about $1billion short of what it needs to be.

From Getup:  "The mental health overhaul we need will take more than budget allocations. But there are solutions which could help so many Australians if rolled out nationally. Here's just one example: there are 30 Government run Headspace centres across Australia. An extra $100 million a year would expand capacity in these centres and build an extra 60 across the nation. This alone would double the number of young Australians receiving treatment for mental ill health. The same amount would start rolling out early psychosis intervention centres (EPPICS) across the country."

Headspace is an amazing model designed by Professor Pat McGrory, who was Australian of the year last year. It is basically a one stop shop for young people to access health services with GP's and mental health  professionals all working from a youth friendly space.

On Monday Getup plans to put a message out that will be impossible to miss. Thousands of candles on the lawns of Parliament House spelling out "fund hope for mental health."

Attached to every candle will be a personal note: a dedication, a demand for action, a story of hope. You can add a candle for $2.20.

One will have my friends name on it. It makes me cry thinking about her name with all those others.

from Getup: Monday is our chance to bring this issue out of the dark -- and with our message writ large and glowing, ensure mental health is top of the agenda for crucial budget decisions this week.