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Australia’s Mental Health System Needs Grounded Reform – Not Another Missed Opportunity

MEDIA RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

25 June 2025


Australia’s Mental Health System Needs Grounded Reform
Australia’s Mental Health System Needs Grounded Reform

The Productivity Commission’s recent review of the National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Agreement confirms what many of us working in the community already know all too well: the agreement, while well-intentioned, has failed to deliver real outcomes for the people it was meant to support.


Shane Warren, the Chair of the VMHPAA, and someone who has spent over three decades working with individuals and communities across Australia and the Asia-Pacific region, noted:

"I am deeply concerned, but sadly not surprised, by the report’s findings. Lofty ambitions are no substitute for grounded, measurable action. The system is fragmented, overstretched, and increasingly out of reach for everyday Australians. And for far too long, the workforce has been treated as an afterthought, rather than the foundation of any sustainable reform."
"We do not need to start again, we need to finally start listening. The people are already here. Vocationally trained mental health practitioners are working on the ground, in schools, in community hubs, in regional towns, and on the end of crisis calls. They are trained, ready, and deeply connected to the communities they serve. Excluding them from the national mental health vision is not reform, it’s regression."  Shane Warren, Chair, VMHPAA

With more than 1,000 new vocational graduates entering the field this year, and thousands more already practicing, the time to recognise and include vocationally trained counsellors, case workers, peer support specialists, and lived experience practitioners is now, not after another review cycle.


The VMHPAA Executive affirm Philip Armstrong, our CEO’s call for a clear pathway forward:


  • Embed vocational practitioners into the national mental health workforce strategy.

  • Fund scalable, localised solutions that empower practitioners already in place.

  • Include trauma-informed, culturally responsive, person-centred care as a core metric of quality, not just a footnote.

  • Reconnect innovation and frontline application by bringing the evidence into the room, and let the practitioners lead.


If we are serious about tackling the mental health crisis, we must expand the definition of who is allowed to help and invest in those who already are.


The VMHPAA is committed to supporting vocational practitioners through recognition, resources, and rigorous professional development, but we cannot do this alone. We urge policymakers to work with us, not around us.


Media Contact:

Shane Warren, Chair

VMHPAA




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