Support for people with a mental illness and their carers

The Australian Government is delivering on its commitment to support people with a mental illness and their carers, with a $32.3 million funding extension for local services across Australia.

Carers of people with a mental illness will continue to have access to 54 respite services across the country, with a one year funding extension of $18.5m under the Mental Health Respite initiative.

As well, 44 local projects supporting people with mental illness, their families and carers across the country will receive a funding extension of $13.8m to continue for a further year as part of the Mental Health Community Based initiative.

These local projects support families, carers, children and young people aged between 16 and 24 years affected by mental illness. These projects provide a diverse range of activities tailored to meet the needs of individual communities and include:

• peer support groups for children with a parent who has a mental illness;
• family relationship counselling for families affected by mental illness; and
• education workshops for parents caring for a teenager with a mental illness.

The Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Jenny Macklin, and the Member for Ballarat, Catherine King announced the one year funding extension during a visit to Ballarat Health Services today.

Ballarat Health Services are receiving around $209,000 under the Mental Health Respite initiative to provide a variety of flexible respite services tailored to meet the individual needs of people with a mental illness and their carers.

‘Caring and living with a person with a mental illness can be challenging and demanding due to the episodic nature of the illness. With the right support, we know that carers and families are critical to assisting people with a mental illness to recover and live meaningful lives’ Ms Macklin said.

‘These projects do great work in our local communities bringing families and carers together to share their experiences and helping them learn the skills they need in their caring role.

‘This additional funding for respite services is also critical to give carers some time out from their caring duties, which is essential to prevent social isolation.

‘Carers of people with mental illness have diverse and changing needs and this flexible funding will continue to give carers much-needed support.’

Ms King said the funding extension would provide security for local people with a mental illness and their carers.

‘Ballarat Health Service is an essential service for local carers and provides people with respite tailored to suit their needs,’ Ms King said.

‘This funding will allow a greater number of local families and carers to access much-needed respite services.

‘It is also an acknowledgement of the important role played by local families and carers in assisting people with a mental illness.’