3rd Rural & Remote Mental Health Symposium - Impacts & Outcomes

You are invited to join us in November 2011 when we will examine the impacts & outcomes of social, financial and environmental issues on Mental Health Clients and their Service Providers in Rural & Remote communities in Australia.

“In 1991 a national study of 2000 GP’s concluded the rates of depression in Urban and Regional areas were similar. The same study conducted in 2001 saw a marked increase in depression in rural and regional populations. A key factor for the increase was the rural economy and rapid rate of change in regional Australia. The rapid changes continue in 2010, with loss of services and employment opportunities. As an example the introduction of water management schemes and FIFO work forces have ensured Rural and Remote communities are continually under pressure to adapt”.

About 35 per cent of Australians named mental health as one of their country's two or three greatest challenges, in contrast to the international average of just 10 per cent, with the second-most worried country on that issue being China on 15 per cent

Social changes: the “slow death” of some remote towns has led to an increase in isolation of individuals and communities, and the exclusion of others from reasonable access to the services, education and technology, most communities take for granted.

Financial factors: the increased cost of living, crop failures, unemployment and lack of local services, are among the financial adversities negatively impacting on the mental health of our rural and remote communities.

Environmental adversities: evidenced by recent incidents of natural disaster in the form of bushfires, floods, cyclones and oil spills, the trail of death and destruction, shattered communities, and displaced people has increased exponentially.

These factors and others can severely impact on the mental health of individuals and upon community functioning, cohesion, and resource availability.

Dr Norm Barling
Symposium Chair

3rd Rural & Remote Mental Health Symposium - Impacts & Outcomes

Mercure, Ballarat 14th – 16th November 2011

Coalition pledges to boost mental health

BARRY O'FARRELL has committed to spending $30 million on establishing a Mental Health Commission and has promised to quarantine funding for mental health from the overall health budget.

Announcing the funding at the Lifeline telephone counselling centre in south-western Sydney, the Opposition Leader said the commission would be modelled on a similar one introduced in Western Australia.

''A Mental Health Commission is needed to drive the necessary reforms to improve mental health outcomes because NSW lags behind other states on mental health care,'' Mr O'Farrell said.

''NSW has dropped the ball on mental health with over 600,000 mental health sufferers receiving no care or treatment over the past year.''

The Opposition spokesman for mental health, Kevin Humphries, said a commission was essential to rebuilding a ''system currently in crisis''.

''Around one in five Australians is affected by mental illness each year, yet only one in three will receive the necessary help they need,'' he said.

''Too many health patients end up in hospital emergency departments. Early intervention with care in the community from a range of providers could prevent some of these hospital admissions.''

The announcement was welcomed by the former Australian of the Year Professor Patrick McGorry, the executive director of the Black Dog Institute, Gordon Parker, and the president of the Schizophrenia Fellowship of NSW, Frank Walker.

Alexandra Smith
March 11, 2011
Soured from the Sydney Morning Herald

12th International Mental Health Conference

Personality Disorders: Out of the Darkness
Radisson Resort, Gold Coast
24th - 26th August 2011