Federal health ministers say they need additional time to ‘undertake meaningful negotiation’ of future arrangements.
The commonwealth has formally offered each state and territory a 12-month extension to the National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Agreement in the wake of a savage Productivity Commission report.
Released to the public in November, the Productivity Commission evaluation found that not only was the mental health and suicide prevention system “fragmented and out of reach” but also that the agreement’s actions do not actually advance system reform.
Other choice descriptors included in the report were: “alienating”, “ill-informed”, “unaffordable” and “difficult to navigate”.
The main conclusion from the commission was that the agreement, which contains funding commitments of about $360 million per year, was not fit for purpose.
It recommended urgent actions like developing arrangements for psychosocial supports outside the NDIS, releasing the national stigma and discrimination reduction strategy, revising and publishing guidelines on regional planning and reinvigorating the National Mental Health Commission, all to be completed before the agreement expires.
That expiration date is currently 1 July 2026.
The Productivity Commission itself recommended that the current agreement be extended to June 2027 to allow sufficient time for proper co-design of a new policy architecture.
It explicitly stated that this architecture should include a mental health declaration, a five-year funding agreement for short time priorities, new funding structures and separate schedules on services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
A communique from the December Health Ministers Meeting acknowledged the report findings and opted to extend the agreement’s timeframe.
“Ministers reaffirmed their collective commitment to working together and with the sector and most importantly, with those who live with mental health challenges and the impacts of suicide, to consider the Review findings and a way forward,” the communique read.
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“Ministers recognise that this work takes time and care. Ministers welcomed the opportunity to consider extending the current National Agreement by 12 months, to 1 July 2027.
“This will, allow consideration of the Review and the capacity to undertake meaningful negotiation of future arrangements, and to provide service continuity during the transition period.”
