On Monday, psychiatrist Patrick McGorry, who was integral to the border's campaign for a headspace centre, called for urgent reform of the mental health system in the Medical Journal of Australia.

"The problem is the system wasn't coping before COVID," he told The Border Mail last week.

"Already it was only providing care to less than 50 per cent of people who need it and the quality is variable.

"We want to see [the mental health system] taken as seriously as the NDIS was taken."

Professor McGorry said mental health reform had been 'kicked down the road for years', but politicians needed to act urgently so the country can cope with the 'shadow pandemic' affecting people's mental health.

IN OTHER NEWS:

He said many people without existing mental health condition would need support during COVID, as well as those with diagnoses.

Professor McGorry said government financial supports like JobSeeker and JobKeeper had softened the mental health toll so far, but the link between mental health, suicide and recession was well established.

Data from NSW this week confirmed, like Victoria, the state had not seen an increase in suicide during COVID.

The NSW Health department's suicide monitoring system identified that 673 people took their own life in the first nine months of 2020, compared to 672 for the same time period last year.

In August, an investigation from Victoria's Coroners Court showed 466 people had died by suicide in 2020 in the state, compared to 468 in the same period in 2019.

Suicide Prevention Australia's Nieves Murray said the fact suicide fears have not eventuated yet could be attributed to proactive mental health measures and financial supports introduced by governments.

- with AAP

Lifeline 13 14 11