Policy Submission: SA Mental Health Services and NDIS

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JFA Purple Orange made this Submission in 2018 to SA Social Development Committee inquiry about the provision of services for people with mental illness under the transition to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)

Summary

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is a critical social welfare reform in Australia and presents a genuine opportunity for people living with psychosocial disability to receive the support needed to deliver transformational benefits. These are benefits that assist the person to build confidence, to build knowledge and skills, to build access to ordinary mainstream resources like other people, to build personal networks, and to find genuine fair-waged work. Such support has been lacking in the past and current services are struggling to provide for people living with severe mental illness. The sector has identified a need for an NDIS that is consistent with contemporary recovery-focussed practice (an acknowledgement that a psychosocial disability can be episodic and may not be permanent) and the need to expand services rather than reduce them. However, the NDIS will not be able to cater for all South Australians living with severe mental illness or psychosocial disability; therefore it is crucial to consider the South Australian mental health services as a whole and not just from a view that is NDIS-centric.

Recommendations

Recommendation 1 

That a solid investment be made from the South Australian Government in increasing the peer workforce for people living with psychosocial disability.

Recommendation 2

That the South Australian government undertake a thorough gaps analysis in regards to mental health services across south Australia to determine how these gaps can be addressed at the state level 3. that the South Australian government invest in funding models similar to that previously offered by the Partners in Recovery programs that provide allocated.

Recommendation 3

That the South Australian government invest in funding models similar to that previously offered by the Partners in Recovery programs that provide allocated resources and a dedicated point of contact to support people living with mental illness and psychosocial disability support.

Recommendation 4

That the South Australian government undertake work to identify the understated prevalence of mental illness and accompanying need for mental health services within South Australians living with disability, particularly NDIS participants for whom psychosocial disability or mental illness is a secondary or subsequent impairment.