Almost $30 million will be invested in a free program for adults experiencing complex mental illness and trauma.
SANE CEO Rachel Green said a grant of $27.3 million, over three years, would allow for a national roll out of a free digital psychosocial recovery program, which will also help family and carers of adults with mental health issues.
Ms Green said the investment was the first of its kind globally and an enormous step forward when it came to the accessibility of mental health services for those living with long-term or severe mental health conditions.
“There’s around five million Australians living with complex mental health needs and at least 500,000 missing out on support services that could dramatically change the trajectory of their life,” she said.
‘The need to find new ways of supporting this community has never been greater, and there’s strong evidence that digital mental health support services are just as effective as face to face services, more economical and rapidly scalable to overcome geographic or workforce challenges.”
Ms Green said using a small Government pilot grant, SANE pioneered digital and telehealth services for those with complex needs by co-designing a guided recovery program with the lived experience community in 2021.
“Our services have now grown to encompass a stepped digital support offering, proven by independent evaluation to reduce symptom domination, improve quality of life, and importantly, empower individuals to have the knowledge, skills and confidence to build their own recovery journey.
“People with complex mental health issues, and their families and carers, have always faced significant geographic, socio-economic and stigma-based barriers to recovery, impacting their ability to live the same meaningful and productive life as everybody else.”
She said the multi-million-dollar investment would allow the SANE Digital Psychosocial Recovery Program and Community to be made nationally available for free from July this year, with support services including:
- Guided Recovery, through a 14-week program of 1:1 recovery-focussed counselling or peer support.
- Semi-guided Recovery Club including online group session, tailored recovery resources and peer support.
- Self-guided Recovery Community where people can connect with peers within a safe, moderated environment.
Learn more about SANE mental health support.
The SANE funding represented more than 20 percent of a Federal Government allocation of $135 million to 12 community groups who provide mental health support.
Federal Health Minister Mark Butler said the funding supported the delivery of high-quality free digital mental health supports for all Australians, including new parents, younger Australians, LGBTIQA+ people and culturally and linguistically diverse communities.
The successful grant applicants were:
- Blue Knot Foundation: Blue Knot Helpline.
- Butterfly Foundation: Butterfly National Helpline.
- E-Hub Health Pty Ltd: e-hub Web Service.
- headspace: eheadspace.
- LGBTIQ+ Health Australia: QLife.
- MQ Health Pty Limited: MindSpot.
- Orygen: MOST.
- PANDA: PANDA National Perinatal Mental Health Helpline.
- Parent-Infant Research Institute: MumMoodBooster and DadBooster.
- ReachOut Australia: ReachOut.
- SANE Australia: SANE’s Guided Recovery Community for Complex Mental Health.
- St. Vincent’s Hospital Sydney Limited: THIS WAY UP’s clinician-supported service, CALD community targeted service, and self-help service.
