Review finds an inefficient WA Mental Health Commission without a strategy

A lack of leadership and Government support for WA’s Mental Health Commission has left some of the State’s most vulnerable behind, a scathing report found. The commission is tasked with administering $1.15 billion of public money in mental health and alcohol and drug services each year. But the Public Sector Commission’s recent capability report, independently undertaken by Government policy director Jo Gaines, found much of this taxpayer money was being wasted — finding “little oversight of how the money was spent”. Ms Gaines found the commission did not have a strategy when commissioning work, with this leading to “operational services that are not targeted or joined up where they need to be, or delivering best value for money”. “It has not effectively executed its leadership role of the sectors to achieve integrated service delivery, resulting in inefficiencies, gaps in services and vulnerable people not always receiving services when and where they need them,” her report states. The review also found contracts were renewed without assessing if they “remain fit for purpose or deliver value for money” and that there were effectively “silos” between the mental health side of the commission and its alcohol and drug teams. “This fragmentation inhibits efficient practices and the design and provision of holistic, consumer-centred services. Leaders across the agency are not yet working together to deliver agreed strategic objectives,” the review states. While the commission had a 10-year plan from 2015 to next year, the review states delivering on this was “hampered” because there was no “identified funding model, too many priorities, and a lack of broader Government support”. The commission has started “a multi-year rebuilding process”, with the review crediting a new executive team with embracing the “challenges ahead”. The report comes as WA continues to have a higher suicide rate than the national average, with 14.3 deaths by suicide per 100,000 people in 2023, compared to a rate of 11.8 per 100,000 nationally. WA Liberal leader Libby Mettam has made a pre-election promise to boost mental health and suicide funding by $80 million if her party forms Government after the March 8 election. Ms Mettam said staff at the MHC were “dedicated” but had been tasked with doing “more with less”. “This report highlights what we already know; Labor is focused on hospital treatments, rather than interventions to stop people ending there in the first place,” she said. “Mental health is just not a priority for WA Labor, and this report is even more evidence of that.” Ms Mettam said her party’s $80m pledge would “properly back, resource, and empower” the commission to do its work. But Mental Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson said the commission had already implemented changes following the review and was under new leadership that put “consumers and lived experience at the heart of everything they do”. “The Public Sector Commission’s review came at an opportune time for the MHC and we welcome the findings,” she said. Ms Sanderson said the Government had spent more than $1.4 billion on mental health and drugs and alcohol, which was a 68 per cent increase compared to the former Government. “In contrast, not only does the leader of the Liberal Party not understand mental health — she doesn’t value it,” she said. “I can count on one hand the number of times the Liberal Leader has asked me about the mental health portfolio in parliament.” Lifeline 13 11 14