2015/2016 Federal Budget: Measures of Interest

Carer support services — national gateway

The Government will provide $33.7 million over four years from 2015-16 to create a national gateway for carers to access information, support and referral to carer specific supports and services.

The gateway will consist of a website and a national call centre via a dedicated 1800 number to assist carers locate and access services for themselves and for the person/s in their care.

Key Points for Mental Health

  • The National Mental Health Commission has received renewed funding for three years.
  • Mental Health Australia (MHA) confirmed that Mental Health Nurse Incentive Programme (MNHIP) has been continued, made ongoing rather than living on year-by-year extensions.
  • The Government is continuing its freeze on indexation of Medicare rebates over four years- until July 2018 (started 1 July 2014). A range of mental health programmes are also having their indexation freeze continued.

Of interest in the health portfolio:

  • Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) to go ahead with an initial investment of $400 million. Cuts from savings measures across the portfolio are flagged for redistribution into the MRFF.
  • Changes to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) were not included budget, although it did state that ‘the Government expects to introduce a balanced range of measures to support the longer term access to, and sustainability of, the PBS changes’.
  • A review of the entire Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) will be undertaken, report expected in late 2015.

Of interest in the Social Services portfolio:

  • Actuarial approach to welfare: as recommended by the McClure report, the Government has committed $20.7 million over four years to develop a detailed annual actuarial valuation of the lifetime liability of Australia’s welfare system, including identifying groups of people most at risk of welfare dependency and the factors that lead to long term dependency.
  • Youth Employment Strategy: funded $105.7 million over five years. This includes $19.4 million over four years for two employment support trials to help improve employment outcomes for young people up to the age of 25 with mental illness, who are at risk of disengaging from education and/or at risk of long term welfare dependency.
  • Continued commitment to the National Disability Insurance Scheme

Post budget announcements

Despite including the National Perinatal Depression Initiativein the budget papers, the Abbott Government has since announced it will no longer provide funding.