Minister returns serve over ‘personal’ mental health campaign
Health Minister Chris Picton says he is not considering legal action “at this stage” over a “partisan and personal” advertisement calling for the release of a report on the state’s mental health services.
An advertisement in the Saturday edition of The Advertiser called on Picton to release a study detailing the lack of mental health support services in SA.
The ad – ‘PEOPLE ARE DYING TO KNOW THE TRUTH MINISTER PICTON’ – was placed by the Mental Health Coalition of South Australia. A similar ad has been placed in InDaily’s emailed editions this week.
The Mental Health Coalition says the unreleased Unmet Needs Study details the number of people in SA with severe mental illness who have a need for psychosocial support but don’t have access, and assesses how much it would cost to provide these services.
The study was commissioned by the former Liberal Government following a 2019 report which identified a high level of unmet need for psychosocial services nationally including in SA.
At the time, an inquiry by State Parliament’s Social Development Committee determined there were around 11,000 South Australians who would not meet eligibility criteria for assistance under NDIS programs nor be able to access services outside of the NDIS. This figure is understood to be much higher now.
Picton told InDaily earlier this month that his team was “poring” through the report and that it would be released in full after going through the Cabinet process. He also said that the Federal Government would examine the report prior to its release.
Mental Health Coalition of SA executive director Geoff Harris today said the mental health sector was “angry and frustrated”.
“We’ve got a report that they’re not releasing,” Harris said.
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“Picton indicated that their action on the report was to send it to the Commonwealth and I estimate that if that goes well, it would take at least two years to see any services on the ground.
“Our sector is angry and frustrated that this issue hasn’t been addressed previously and now it looks like an announcement essentially of further delay rather than any real action of substance.”
Members of the Mental Health Coalition are some of the state’s largest social support service operators including Anglicare, Carers SA, Mission Australia, Uniting Communities and more.
In correspondence between Picton’s office and Harris last Friday, seen by InDaily, a staff member from the Health Minister’s office said legal action was being considered, however Picton softened this stance today.
The coalition had sent Picton’s office a copy of the ad in advance of publication.
“Thank you for letting us know 12 hours ahead of this being published in the Saturday Advertiser,” the adviser told Harris in the email.
“The Minister will be considering whether to seek legal advice regarding this advertisement and is personally disappointed you have decided to launch a partisan and personal campaign against him rather than work with the government on its ambitious mental health agenda.
“It is unfortunate it has come to this as you could have always followed up with an email or a phone call if you were seeking further information.”
South Australia’s chief psychiatrist John Brayley said this morning that he was “concerned about the ad from a suicide prevention perspective”.
“We have to consider how a person who might be distressed might see an ad like this,” Brayley told ABC Radio Adelaide.
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“It didn’t seem to fit into the standard guidelines in terms of the reference to suicide. I could think of all sorts of other ways the points could be made without this particular focus.
“While elements of communication such as headlines or titles are designed to gain attention and encourage all audiences to click through or read further, engagement is not an excuse for sensationalised or alarming language.”
Harris told InDaily that he received advice that the ad was in-line with guidelines.
“We have advice that says the guidelines that were referred to [by Brayley] should not be used to stifle advocacy to fix up the problem,” Harris said.
“What we’re trying to do is to get the Minister to recognise the problem and act.”
Calls for the release of the Unmet Needs Study were escalated earlier this month after Greens MLC Tammy Franks gave notice of a motion calling on the government to table the study in full, including any funding that had been allocated to recommendations.
The study was supervised through the Office of the Chief Psychiatrist and undertaken by David McGrath Consulting. It uses the National Mental Health Service Planning Framework, a model designed to help plan and coordinate mental health resources.
Harris told InDaily earlier this month that increasing psychosocial support services would go some way in addressing hospital ramping, as it would encourage non-hospital solutions for mental health problems.
A report done by the University of New South Wales found that 51.4 per cent of people in Adelaide receiving psychosocial support services said they avoided hospitalisation because of those programs. This was even higher in regional South Australia, with 60.7 per cent of participants avoiding admission.
Picton’s office issued a statement today, saying the Malinauskas Government had an “ambitious mental health agenda and is investing hundreds of millions of dollars in a generational increase in mental health services in South Australia”.
“The Government has already publicly made it clear on a number of occasions that it will be releasing the report in full,” the statement said.
“As has been said previously, the final report was only provided to the Minister recently from SA Health and it is going through the appropriate cabinet process before being released publicly.
“Independently, the Chief Psychiatrist has spoken about his concerns regarding the advertisement on ABC Radio this morning.
“The Minister would rather there be constructive work with the Mental Health Coalition (the organisation that represents NGO contracted service providers) rather than personal public commentary and there is no intention for any further action at this stage.”
If this story has raised issues for you, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.
