"I'm a victim of sexual assault resulting in a diagnosed anxiety disorder and depression. I couldn't afford the gap payment for counselling services."

"I am unable to afford the medication I need ... I have had to stop seeing my psychologist ... which has been very detrimental to my mental health."

They are to be heard in a flood of submissions from health and welfare groups to the current Senate inquiry into the adequacy of Newstart.

They tell us clearly and shockingly about the impact of poverty on health, of what is described as a social determinant of health - as powerful a contributor to illness as smoking or eating fast food. And they tell us that Newstart is far from adequate.

As many readers will know, there has been no real increase to Newstart over the past 25 years.

At $40 a day ($555.70 per fortnight) for a single person, it is now so far below the poverty line (estimated at $866 a fortnight) that many recipients are focused on survival rather than seeking work.

And it's not just health and welfare groups that find that unfair - even the Business Council of Australia and accounting giant KPMG are urging an increase.

There can be no doubt that this is a health issue as many of the 80 submissions to the inquiry testify.

They detail multiple accounts of recipients who have to skip meals and avoid using heating or cooling, often to feed children or pay for school costs.

They give multiple examples of people who cannot afford to go to the doctor or to pay for medications, and the impact that has on their health and wellbeing.

And they tell too many times how recipients end up losing social connections. That's a big issue for people in rural and regional areas who don't have the money to put petrol in the car or to keep it running and registered, leaving them isolated.

There are double whammies everywhere on this for mental health.

To start with, Australians receiving Newstart and other income supports are more likely to be living with a mental health condition than other Australians.

Having a mental illness can make it more difficult for people to find and keep work due to functional impairments, discrimination, and lack of appropriate opportunities - again, particularly in some rural and regional areas.

Many people with mental health issues also have been forced onto Newstart because successive governments have squeezed the Disability Support Pension that used to better support what's known as psychosocial disability.

As well as paying an incredibly low rate, Newstart also brings with it tough requirements to meet, adding to the stress and pressure that many recipients experience.

And other policies also impact: the freezing of Medicare Benefits Schedule payments in primary health care has led to increased gap payments for primary mental health care services.

We know that getting the right support at the right time is particularly important for people with mental illness, so the last thing we want is for people to not be able to seek it or get to it.

If people can't get out to meet with friends, play sport and connect with the community, if they can't get to their doctor when things begin to get hard, and if they're not able to take their medication, their conditions can worsen to a level of crisis.

The mental health sector has very much welcomed the strong leadership and commitment by the federal government to mental health, and in particular to tackle the devastating incidence of suicide.

We are very encouraged by its commitment to build a mentally and physically healthy Australia and, for the first time, to have mental health rated equally alongside physical health.

That is good news, but it cannot be achieved without providing a fair and reasonable system of welfare support for people. Decent income support is as vital to mental health as is a headspace clinic or mental health service.

We urge the federal government to listen to the voices in these submissions.

Angus Clelland is chief executive of Mental Health Victoria