Improvement in Mental Health Policies l Assignment

Improvement in Mental Health
Policies

Australia is one of the major countries in the world, which has seen an increase in the number of
patients suffering from mental illness. In the year 2017, the country organized Relationships
Australia online survey and found out that 54% Australians suffering from mental illness do not
get a proper treatment. There is a huge treatment gap between the people suffering with mental
illness and those who actually get any professional help for getting themselves cured
(Relationships Australia, 2019). However, the government of Australia has been trying hard to
fill this gap and provide effective treatment to the patients suffering from any sort of mental
illness. The share invested by the government in mental health expenditure has increased to $20
billion, approximately 1.3 million mental health treatment plans have been devised by general
practitioners and more than 5 million services are being provided by the psychologists through
Medicare subsidized services (Commonwealth of Australia, 2009). But the major challenge
faced by the government in this context is that it is not getting the expected gains. There are a
number of loopholes in the process such as excessive reliance of the country on the
antidepressants, improper targeting of the psychotropic medications and public awareness
pertaining to mental health not rising to the expected levels. Australia health authorities rely
heavily on the one pronged approach towards mental disorders, which is, treatment of the mental
disorders. However, in the current times, it is required that the government carries out a two
pronged approach – first, the preventive approach and second, the treatment approach – to
decrease the number of mental health disorders (The Conversation Media Group Ltd, 2013).
A number of legislations are also made by the Australian government but many of these
legislations breach the prescribed standards of mental health legislations prescribed by the UN.
The first breach can be seen in the case of admission or institutionalization of the patient
suffering from mental illness. In Australia, the Guardianship Board holds the power for ordering