Jesuit Social Services welcomes the opportunity to make a submission to inform the NSW Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy. Our submission is informed by the lived and living experience of Jesuit Social Services staff in Western Sydney – and their reflections on their community’s experience – of mental health and wellbeing, and of the mental health service system.
Community members we work with in Western Sydney report numerous barriers to accessing mental health services. These include: highly rationed public mental health services with long wait times; restrictive eligibility criteria that exclude people presenting with multiple issues; unaffordability of private services; experiences of poor quality care; fear of child removal; and low mental health literacy. The submission raises particular concerns about the lack of mental health support (including school-based support) available for children.
Our submission also highlights the importance of preventing mental ill health and suicide through addressing the social determinants of mental health and wellbeing, with a particular focus on addressing locational disadvantage, climate change and gender-based violence.
