The interim report identifies key areas where work can begin to deliver a more coordinated mental health system into the future including:
- 170 new youth and adult acute mental health beds to help additional critical demand pressure
- New suicide prevention initiatives, including a major expansion of the Hospital Outreach Post-suicidal Engagement program and developing a new model for children and young people
- A world-class Collaborative Centre focused on cutting-edge research and education
- An international recruitment to boost Victoria’s mental health workforce, adding more nurses, allied health professionals and extra graduate placements.
In the longer term, the interim report recommends a new tax or levy, to deliver the scale of reform needed to build a contemporary mental health system for Victorians.
It highlights the need to better support Aboriginal Victorians and recommends establishing social and emotional wellbeing teams in Aboriginal community-controlled health organisations, supported by a new Aboriginal Social and Emotional Wellbeing Centre.
The Royal Commission will hold further public hearings in late April and early May 2020. The hearings will guide the Royal Commission through the final six months of its vital work before it delivers its final report in October 2020.
The Victorian Government has committed to implementing all the Royal Commission’s recommendations.
