Our mental health 'just as important as the economy or national security'

Chris Gambian, who was a senior trade union official for the finance sector, recalls that along with job security, "psycho-social safety" was the most pressing workplace issue.

"At the time, we didn't call it that, of course," reflects the now executive director of Australians For Mental Health (AFMH).

"But for all the talk of care, the encouraging posters, all the deep breathing exercises and ping pong tables in the lunch rooms ... there was no substitute for bullet-proof glass!"

As it turned out, the installation of that glass (years later after legal action by the union), would prove a "powerful mental health measure".

Indeed it is with this same premise that AFMH is calling for "nothing short of a complete overhaul" of the way Australia thinks and acts on mental health and wellbeing.

The time for more reports, another awareness campaign or "tinkering around the edges" is over.

From the kitchen to the Cabinet table, the national advocacy body says fundamental reform and structural change is urgently needed to address a system in complete crisis.

"Ten years of well-meaning suicide prevention action has seen the problem get worse not better," Mr Gambian said during an impassioned speech to Governor-General David Hurley and his wife Linda at Admiralty House on February 7.

"There have been 53 inquiries of various iterations in the last 10 years ...

"We can't wait 10 more years: we need a crisis response that befits the crisis we are in."

Mr Gambian, who has been in the role since May 2023, was joined by Albury-Wodonga Winter Solstice founders Annette and Stuart Baker (also on the board of AFMH) and more than 50 leading lights in mental health for the afternoon tea hosted by the Governor-General and his wife.

It was an opportunity for an incredibly diverse group of people united by "a deep interest" in mental health to share their hopes and plans for the changes they want to make, according to Mr Gambian.

While the Governor-General and his wife are not directly decision-makers, the "gentle influence" and counsel they bring to government can help elevate the voice of the people, he added.

In a pre-Budget submission released to the federal government earlier this month, AFMH has outlined a raft of "modestly priced" reforms it believes will drive the change that is needed - and on the scale it is needed.

Those reforms include the appointment of a new Mental Health & Wellbeing Commissioner in the Australian Human Rights Commission to investigate issues and complaints and deliver "frank and fearless advice to government" as well as a new Office of Mental Health & Wellbeing within the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.

AFMH is also calling on the Parliament to introduce a 'Wellbeing Act' as well as mandatory mental health impact assessments on all proposed Commonwealth policy, legislation, and budget initiatives.

It's creating a compass, if you like, for getting where we want to go.

Mr Gambian says another crucial component to reform is counting the "true cost" of the economic impact of mental ill-health.

"Yes we know we can do calculations around lost productivity and absenteeism for instance," he says.

"But the bigger economic impact is the lost opportunities of people not leading their best lives.

"When we can draw out the best in our people, we do better as a country and there's a limitless amount of gain.

"So how do we design government so that mental health and wellbeing sits at the heart of how decisions get made - and that it is just as important as the economy or national security?"

Mr Gambian says across parliament people are talking about and care about mental health.

"We have more awareness than we've ever had and while that's useful, it's not the same as making it an urgent political priority," he states.

At its heart, AFMH is focused on driving reform that will ensure every Australian has access to the right kind of care, when and where they need it, at a price they can afford.

And that drive includes bringing people together in their own communities to find common ground and create a powerful voice for concrete local changes.

That's why, he says, the work and activism of people like the Bakers is vital.

"Change begins with people and what the community says is important," Mr Gambian says.

"When people have loud voices, change happens."

Attending the 2023 Albury-Wodonga Winter Solstice was "one of the most extraordinarily moving experiences of my life", he reveals.

"This is a city that has made mental health and suicide awareness a local priority and a political priority.

"If we can change the dial and do that across the country, then change will come.

"Because in Australia, every mind matters."

Surprisingly little is known about mental health in Australia at a population level, says advocacy body Australians for Mental Health (AFMH).

"But what we do know should be enough evidence to trigger a national emergency response," it has stated in a pre-budget submission to the federal government released this month.

Official figures as measured by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in its National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing in 2020-22 found that:

Whilst the snapshot from the ABS provides an important insight ... "what these numbers don't tell us are the challenges experienced by millions of Australians whose experience is not at the level of a clinical diagnosis, but whose distress disrupts their everyday life", the AFMH submission states.

"These numbers do not capture those people who - because of the cultural norms of their age, sex, class, or ethnicity - may never make a connection between the symptoms they are experiencing and mental disorder and may never seek out assistance.

"The numbers also do not include individuals who are more inhibited by shame than motivated by hope when it comes to providing care."

In November 2023, Australians for Mental Health conducted and released the results of the inaugural National Mental Health Monitor.

The nation-wide poll was developed to obtain a snapshot of everyday Australians' relationship to mental health issues and that poll showed:

The AFMH submission also pointed out that "it has been well documented ... that measures of mental health in Australia do not capture the full range of experiences of priority populations; notably First Nations people, culturally and linguistically diverse communities, and LGBTQI+ communities".

"There is also increasing evidence of the shortfalls in investment in rural and regional Australia and the need to ensure appropriately targeted support - not least in the context of disaster (shown to also exacerbate existing vulnerabilities including domestic and family violence) and prolonged environmental conditions such as drought and flooding," it was noted.

Further, the AFMH submission said the ways in which the voices and experiences of children and young people are included in shaping reform must be considered.

"The recent findings of the Australian Child Maltreatment Study show that over 30 per cent of young people before the age of 18 years have experienced some form of maltreatment," the report noted.

"As a result - the data shows that they are substantially more likely to experience mental ill-health."

"This reality raises important questions about how mental health is seen and understood in Australia - and if the right lens is being applied to how responses are designed and funded."