Human relationships and efficiency don't mix

03 July 2014

The test of a good society is the attentiveness it shows to its most vulnerable members. But when it comes to budgets and budgeting, the most vulnerable usually miss out. This is certainly the case of disadvantaged young people with mental illnesses in Victoria. State funding and the Federal Budget will further disadvantage them.

A recent report from Mission Australia and the Black Dog Institute has shown the challenge in treating mental illness in young people. The stigma and the loss of self-confidence associated with mental illness make them hesitant to seek help or to admit their need for it. They are also intimidated by large clinics and confused by a multitude of carers, each of them focusing on one aspect of their need. So they easily isolate themselves or decline to commit themselves to therapeutic programs.

Many have been helped, however, by the opportunity to have a place they can drop into offering educational and cultural activities and access to services. The key to such programs lies in the relationships that they build with dedicated members of staff. Such programs have been successful in enabling young people to make connections to society that flow into education and work opportunities.

Tragically, young people with mental illnesses have now been caught in a pincer movement between the Federal Budget and changes to the way the Victorian State Government funds its welfare services. The Shergold Report commissioned by the State Government emphasised efficiency in service delivery by developing partnerships and simplifying a system in which people were referred to many different agencies working independently of one another. Underlying the Report was the determination to ensure economic sustainability.

The Victorian Government has started to recommission its community sector programs. The first to be affected were the community mental health services. The outcome saw a simplification of administration into a smaller number of areas, with tenders being awarded to a few large tenderers in each region. These included some large community organisations.

But funding was withdrawn from small innovative programs directed to people who are mentally ill. St Mary’s House of Welcome, Jesuit Social Services’ Connexions Program and the Artful Dodgers Studio and other specialised programs lost funding for interventions that were effective because of the quality of the relationships they had built up.

The young people affected by these changes will be put at even greater risk by the Federal Budget. The

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Human relationships and efficiency don't mix

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