Motion to refer inquiry – Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health
Wednesday the 13th of November, 2024
Rachel Payne MP provided her written contribution on a motion to refer an inquiry to the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission. This motion would initiate an inquiry into the implementation of the recommendations from the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System.
RACHEL PAYNE (South-Eastern Metropolitan): incorporated the following:
I rise to speak on this motion to require the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission (MHWC) to inquire into, consider and report on the status and outcomes of the implementation of the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System recommendations.
It was compassion that the Royal Commission put at the centre of reforms to our mental health and wellbeing system.
Compassion for those with lived experiences with mental health struggles, compassion for their families, and compassion for all those who support them. Because it is compassion that makes such a difference.
I appreciate that this motion in part likely comes from a place of compassion. It is compassion I share – our mental health workforce is understaffed and overworked. Access to mental health care in our state also undoubtedly has a long way to go.
The Royal Commission envisaged ‘a reimagined system that will support the mental health and wellbeing of Victorians for generations to come’.
This kind of systemic change is something that takes time and will inevitably encounter hurdles.
While we agree that a part of this journey is keeping government accountable to their commitments, we are satisfied that as it stands, existing systems, including the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission undertake sufficient review and reporting practices.
Our focus must be on looking forward, and working to implement the recommendations, rather than taking resources away. These reforms are still in their infancy – it is important to keep in mind that the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission was only set up last year.
We are also concerned about the reference to auditing expenditure of the mental health levy in this motion.
We hate to be cynical about the intention of this motion but given how often we hear the Opposition talk about their running count of taxes in Victoria, we have reason to suspect they would love to see this levy scrapped.
This would destroy essential funds for rebuilding Victoria’s mental health system.
For these reasons, we will not be supporting this motion today, but we will continue to closely monitor the implementation of these reforms and hold the government to account.
Motion negatived.
