Mental Health Victoria's 22 State Budget recommendations

The announcement of the Victorian State Budget 2022 is imminent. Mental Health Victoria has just 22 things to ask.

Victoria has seen an impressive amount of government investment in mental health reform, but more needs to be done. Our 22 recommendations to the Victorian Government for the state budget of 2022-23 are simplified below.

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Image contains text reading: research - a $1 million investment in mental health research; youth eating disorder research - fund youth eating disorder research at $1 million per annum; local government - allocate $37.9 million to mobilise local government mental health supports; families and carers support - give further support to families and carers via better funding for community organisations; LGBTIQA+ - $10 million annual ongoing funding for LGBTIQA+ community controlled organisations; promotion - invest $3 million per annum in promoting mental health; expand mental health and wellbeing hubs - expand the existing network of Mental Health and Wellbeing Hubs and establish similar hubs in schools; diabetes, quit smoking support - devote $900,000 to adding diabetes and smoking cessation supports at LMHWS; EDV funding certainty - give Eating Disorders Victoria assured funding of $5 million per annum; community-led implementation - create a community-led implementation plan for the Mental Health and Wellbeing Act; CALD - provide $10 million in extra funding for organisations supporting culturally and linguistically diverse communities; workforce parity of pay - parity of pay for public allied mental health professionals; AOD rehabilitation - help create a residential rehab facility for people experiencing harmful alcohol and other drug use, to keep them in work; high schools - fund suicide prevention supports in high schools and other youth touch points; women's mental health services - support a wide range of women's mental health services with extra funding of $16.3 million per annum; peer cadets - scale up the Peer Cadet Program to grow the lived experience workforce; legal services - provide funding for specialist legal services for people experiencing mental illness; diverse faith communities - support diverse faith community-led mental health efforts; fund peak bodies - support the work of peaks, professional associations, unions and community organisations to deliver advice to government; youth mental health clinical trial network - support research initiatives in the youth mental health system; Aboriginal community-controlled health - provide $10 million extra funding to urgently support Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations; rural youth mental health - support initiatives for the mental health of rural youth.