Mental health: $200m is ‘small bikkies’

Mental health initiatives have been allocated just over $200 million in the Budget but it will not be enough to relieve pressure on a system facing rising numbers of people in psychological distress, says the head of the Mental Health Foundation.

Shaun Robinson, the foundation’s chief executive, says any new investment is welcome in a sector that is short-staffed, underfunded and struggling to cope with demand.

But the new money announced yesterday amounts to “small bikkies” compared to the scale of the challenges confronting mental health providers, Robinson says.

Budget 2022 allocates $202m to mental health initiatives, including $100m to “increase the availability and trial new models of specialist mental health and addiction services to support people with specific needs in targeted areas across the country”.

This money for specialist services, revealed earlier in the week by Health Minister Andrew Little, includes $27m spread over four years for developing support for people experiencing a mental health crisis.

Robinson says it’s encouraging that the Government has recognised the need to support people in crisis, although the money is modest.

Every day, police get hundreds of callouts and hospital emergency departments are inundated because mental health teams are too stretched to deal with the numbers of people who are suicidal, selfharming or experiencing distress.

“You have to measure the level of investment next to the scale of the need,” Robinson says.

Budget 2022 also sets aside $90m over four years to pay for the expansion of Mana Ake, an initiative to support the wellbeing of children, to schools in five regions.

Mana Ake began in Canterbury to support children in communities affected by the earthquakes. It is in the process of being rolled out in Northland, Counties Manukau, Bay of Plenty, Lakes and West Coast.

Schools in those areas are expected to be offering the services later this year and eventually it will cover 195,000 children in all the regions it operates. This Budget has also allocated $12.3m for Piki, a programme that provides free psychological therapy for people aged 18 to 25 in Wellington. The extension was welcomed by the Green Party.

Chlo¨e Swarbrick, the Greens’ mental health spokeswoman, said: “There must continue to be investment in community-based solutions.

“While we welcome this extension of funding under our co-operation agreement, the Greens won’t stop until mental health and addiction services are accessible for all who need them.”

There is also around $8 million a year to make alcohol and drug treatment courts permanent in Auckland, Waitākere and Waikato.