Jesuit Social Services welcomes the Productivity Commission’s Draft Report on Mental Health. The draft report offers a detailed examination of the broader systems and services that impact on the delivery of mental health services, as well as the range of factors – from social exclusion to unemployment – that can be both a precursor to and consequence of mental ill-health.
Many of the draft report’s recommendations offer important direction for governments across Australia and should be progressed as a priority, including a nationally consistent formal policy of no exits into homelessness for people with mental illness who are discharged from institutions such as hospitals and prisons, and ensuring that care coordination services are available to all who need them.
In our submission, we outline several areas that could be strengthened in the draft report. These include:
- Transition support for people exiting prison.
- Harmful practices in detention, such as solitary confinement, which may lead to or exacerbate mental illness.
- The issue of prolonged, mandatory immigration detention.
- Support services for people bereaved by suicide.
- Addressing harmful notions of masculinity that contribute to mental ill-health.
