Australian College of Mental Health Nurses ( ACMHN ) ACMHN president Dr Mike Hazelton believes that while the budget has given a welcome funding boost for mental health and nursing , including the $ 27.8 million allocated to increasing the number of nurses , psychologists , and allied health practitioners in mental health settings , not enough attention has been given to those too unwell for primary care , but not unwell enough for state-based services .
“ I would like to join others who have commented on the very poor state of mental health care in Australia and acknowledge the importance of the $ 2.3 billion allocation to mental health in the budget ,” Hazelton said .
“ I take this as an expression of goodwill by the Government heeding the recommendations that many reports and individuals in the mental health sector have been putting forward .”
The unions Carolyn Smith , aged care director of the United Workers Union said the budget gives the illusion of action on aged care but fails to address fundamental issues facing the sector .
“ In residential care , when you look at the promise of care time for older Australians , it ’ s being introduced with the lightest feather of regulatory enforcement : an obligation to report care time minutes in July 2022 .
“ The aged care sector knows what this is about : no-strings-attached funding for providers and no clear expectation that money will be meaningfully tied to care for older Australians .
“ Scott Morrison has broken his promise for a comprehensive response to the aged care crisis by rejecting the Royal Commission ’ s recommendation that the home care wait list be cleared by the end of the year .”
Smith said that the $ 17.7 billion a year over five years – or $ 3.5 billion a year – paled in comparison to the $ 50 billion in funding needs indicated by the Royal Commission and others over the same period .
“ In its final report the Royal Commission found Federal Government funding in 2018 – 19 was $ 9.8 billion lower annually than it should be if aged care had been appropriately funded ,” Smith said .
“ The funding shortfall is leading to horrendous human costs in aged care , with older Australians left unsafe and vulnerable , and workers left physically and emotionally exhausted .”
The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation is similarly unmoved by the government ’ s package . It welcomes the measures ensuring providers must disclose care minutes as well as the new aged care act , but said that this alone is not enough . “ We question which generation will actually see the benefits of any action the government is taking to fix aged care ,” federal secretary Annie Butler said .
“ We ’ ve always said , if you don ’ t fix staffing , you can ’ t fix the aged care system . So the announcement of 200 minutes of minimum care per resident is a step in the right direction , but why wait until 2023 ?” ■
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