New Goals for Mental Health Sector as $10 Million Fund Launches

As announced by the Minister of Mental Health, the recruitment of applications for money from the new government mental health fund will begin this month.

Premier Christopher Luxon and Minister for Mental Health Matt Doocey visited Middlemore Hospital in Auckland to announce and discuss the targets to be achieved in the sector.

New Zealanders face significant difficulties in accessing mental health services, Luxon says.

He added that some progress had been made over the past 20 years, but that challenges included waiting weeks, sometimes months, to see a counselor.

“Supporting New Zealanders with mental health is a priority for this government.”

He added that this is why the government has created a $10 million fund for innovation in mental health care.

Doocey said the goal is to reach 80% of people within three weeks.

Another goal was to shorten the stay in EDs for people with mental health problems. The goal was to admit, discharge or transfer people within six hours.

The Mental Health and Addictions Community Sector Innovation Fund is among the new healthcare spending announced in Budget 24.

“The fund will support new and innovative initiatives that aim to increase access to better mental health support – a top priority for me as New Zealand’s first Minister for Mental Health,” Doocey said.

The government didn’t have all the answers, but there were programs available to help communities that just needed support, Doocey said.

The government would need to ensure that certain priorities are met for entities seeking funding, including:

Increases access to mental health and addiction support
Protects public mental health and addiction treatment specialist services by reducing demand
Developing the capacity of the mental health and addictions workforce
Returns a positive social return on investment (with evidence)
Achieves positive outcomes for target population groups where there is evidence of poorer mental health outcomes than other groups
It will be co-financed on a dollar-for-dollar basis.

The fund will be available to all non-governmental organisations and community mental health and addiction treatment providers, including providers from iwi and other Kaupapa Māori communities.

Doocey expected the first contracts to be signed this year.

The government has already announced $24 million over four years for the Gumboot Friday program, which will provide free mental health counseling services to young people aged five to 25.

Today’s announcement comes shortly after the release of a report that revealed a drastic decline in the number of New Zealanders accessing specialist mental health and addiction treatment services over the past five years.

The Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission’s five-year Kua Tīmata Te Haerenga monitoring report, published last month, found thousands fewer people were accessing specialist support.

rnz.co.nz