Experts are shining new light on the reasons why so many Australians with intellectual disabilities are dying from potentially avoidable deaths at a young age. Those living with an intellectual disability say it’s not uncommon for doctors to dismiss their concerns or even ignore them all together.
The Victorian government has pledged to adopt all recommendations made in the interim report of the state’s mental health royal commission. But achieving broad system change will require streamlining state and Commonwealth responsibilities, away from the current model where blurred lines see many people falling through the cracks.
During a session at the Victorian Homelessness Conference, panellists from across the social sector discussed how the NDIS was catering to people with disability who were homeless or at risk.
From today people with health issues that result from their disabilities will be able to access support for them through the National Disability Insurance Scheme, after a long-running “arm wrestle” over payments between the NDIS and the health system. Advocates say the change will save lives.
People with severe mental health issues are having their National Disability Insurance Scheme funding cut because the system does not account for the episodic nature of psychosocial disability, a new report says.
The state’s chief mental health group has seized upon a report which shows the National Disability Insurance Scheme is failing a high proportion of people with serious mental illnesses.
This report is part of a series of publicly shared reports that include specialist data in addition to the comprehensive quarterly and other reports regularly released. The data provides invaluable insight for the community and wider mental health sector to identify where it can best support participants, demonstrate evidence of the benefits of the NDIS, and chart the outcomes of NDIS participants.
Australian governments must work together to ensure people with severe mental health issues who are ineligible for the National Disability Insurance Scheme can use psychosocial support services, the National Mental Health Commission says.
It is hard to live your life surrounded by death. That is the confronting challenge facing around 6,000 young people with disabilities who are in Australian nursing homes. One young woman recently told us of the pain of watching 40 people she knew die in her first two years in a home. Another had tears streaming down her face every time a death was announced on the public address system and the favourite song of the deceased was played.
The National Disability Insurance Scheme and increased spending on pharmaceuticals are propping up the economy, the Reserve Bank of Australia has revealed, while keeping open the prospect of a pre-Christmas interest-rate cut.
The man, known as John to protect his privacy, was left to survive on Newstart as he battled stage 3 bowel cancer and had earlier attempted suicide after learning of a two-month wait on his pension claim, according to Katrina Newman, who took up his case in February.
Only a quarter of people in Commonwealth-funded mental health programs set to close in 2020 have successfully transitioned to the National Disability Insurance Scheme, new research shows.
Jess Cochran has been physically restrained, chemically sedated and held in seclusion at Victorian public hospitals more times than she’d care to remember. The first episode occurred at the age of 15, when she was locked up for weeks in the mental health unit at the Royal Children’s Hospital, with severe anorexia, depression and anxiety.
Carers say health procedures are made more difficult because of doctors’ lack of understanding. The issue, said the council’s senior advocate, Jim Simpson, is primarily a lack of training among doctors, who receive only 2.5 hours of specific training in the average six-year degree, and nurses, who receive none.
This quick guide provides an overview of mental health in Australia, including the prevalence of mental health conditions, the cost of mental illness, government responsibilities, and mental health services available in Australia.