Report on Mental Health, Alcohol, Drug Use, and Homelessness

This report provides a detailed overview of mental health in Australia, examining its relationship with various social determinants. It addresses key issues such as alcohol and drug use, homelessness, imprisonment, child protection, family violence, poverty, disability, and unemployment. The report highlights the complex interplay of these factors and their significant impact on the mental and physical well-being of Australians. It explores the adverse effects of alcohol and drug misuse, the increasing rates of imprisonment, and the challenges faced by vulnerable populations, including children and the homeless. Furthermore, it discusses the effects of poverty, disability, and unemployment on mental health, emphasizing the need for public health interventions and policy changes to improve overall well-being. The report also touches on the role of age and behaviors of concern within the context of mental health challenges.

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Mental Health
Mental Health is defined as condition of a person with regard to his or her emotional
and psychological well-being (Allen et al. 2014). Any disturbance in the equilibrium of this
emotional and psychological well-being gives rise to mental illness. According to the
Government of Australia (2014), one out of five Australians suffers from mental health
complications.
The mental health of the person and common mental disorders are influenced by
numerous economic, physical and social environments at different life stages. The risk factors
associated with common mental health disorders are directly associated with the social
inequalities (Allen et al. 2014). Greater is the inequality; higher is the chance of developing
metal health threats among the vulnerable group of populations. The disadvantaged and poor
people suffer disproportionately. However, those who lies in the middle of the social
gradient, also gets affected. It is one of the prime importance that action is undertaken in
order to up lift the conditions of day-to-day life starting from life, progressing through the
stages of childhood, adolescence, family building, working and through old age (Allen et al.
2014).
Alcohol and Drugs
According to National Health and Medical Research Council, Australian Government
(2017), Alcohol has a complex role in the society of Australia. The majority of Australians
consume alcohol out of relaxation, enjoyment and sociability. This high amount of alcohol
consumption cause serious adverse effects. However, a substantial population of people
consume alcohol at a percentage that increases their risks of alcohol-associated harm.
Australian has a high percentage of illicit use of drugs. In 2016, 3.1 million Australians were

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reported of getting victims of illicit drug. The common illicit drugs used in Australia were
Cannabis, cocaine, ecstasy and crystal methamphetamine (Government of Australia 2017).
In numerous countries, including Australia, consumption of alcohol and drugs is
associated with significant burden of mortality, fatal disease and injury. In addition to health
related risks, the over consumption of alcohol leads to significant economic and social burden
on the families, individuals, bystanders and broader communities (Government of Australia
2017). One of the main threats of alcohol and drug misuse is mental health complications.
According to the reports published by Baker et al. (2012), high rate of alcohol consumption is
associated with depression and anxiety disorders.
Imprisonment
According to the reports published by ABC news (2017), the total number of prison
population in Australia is at its highest-ever recorded level. Over the past few decades the
rate and the number of people who are imprisoned around states of Australia and its
territories has risen considerably. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), an
average of 40,577 people in Australia was imprisoned during the first quarter of 2017.
The reasons behind the increase in the rate of imprisonment is increase in the rate of
criminal activity, change in the policies related to justice and practices and inequalities in
social and economic determinants of health like substance abuse, poverty, unemployment and
other community cohesion (Parliament of Australia 2017).
Child protection
In Australia, the statutory child protection is governed by the territory and the state
governments. Here the departments are responsible for the protection of child via providing
assistance to the vulnerable group of children population are lies at an increased risk of

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getting abused, harmed or neglected or whose guardians are unable to bestow them with
optimal care and protection (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2017).
The main victims of the adult maltreatment are the children of the Australian
aboriginals or Torres Strait Islanders and other asylum seekers (Reed et al. 2012). Children
who are subjected to adult maltreatment are reported to suffer from the symptoms of adult
anxiety, depression and impairment of both mental and physical health. Moreover, some of
the children who are subject to adult maltreatment or sexual abuse are known to become
victims of substance misuse (Herrenkohl et al. 2013).
Family violence
Family or domestic violence is not always physical. It can target anyone, anytime
irrespective of age and gender. Types of physical violence at home include punching, hitting,
pushing or chocking. Apart from physical violence other aspects of family violence include
verbal and emotional violence (Australian Department of Human Service 2017).
According to Graham‐Bermann et al. (2012), children who are exposed to family
violence lies at an increase risk of getting affected by traumatic stress symptoms and post
traumatic stress disorder. However, prior treating children who are exposed to family
violence, it is important to conduct a comprehensive assessment of traumatic events.
Homelessness
The term homelessness if difficult to define. There are different definitions associated
to quantify homelessness however, the statistics are not straight forward. According to the
2011 census, the number of people in Australia who are homeless is 105,000 and this is
significantly higher than the estimated report published in 2006 (The Guardian 2017).

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The reasons for homelessness also vary and include mixture systematic failures,
structural factors and other individual circumstances. Of these factors, the domestic and
family violence is considered to be as the common reason behind the increasing rate of
homeless population in Australia. Other associated reasons behind homelessness are housing
affordability and lack of employment (The Guardian 2017).
Poverty
In Australia, poverty is regarded as a major policy and advocacy focus for Australian
Council of Social Service (ACOSS). The measurement of poverty is done in different ways
like measurement of wealth or family income via employing poverty lines or via examining
what important items the population is missing out due to the lack of proper income or been
compelled to expend more than their income on certain costs above others. Fr example,
spending on housing and other amenities instead of using on daily food and this is termed as
deprivation.
According to ACOSS (2017), out of 3 million people living below the poverty line in
Australia, 731,000 are children. The major impact of children who are victims of poverty is
malnutrition and developmental delays. Other tragic outcomes of poverty includes suicide
tool due to several stressor elements.
Health
Health is defined as a state of being free from illness and injury. Health is the board
term which encompasses both physical and mental health. In Australia, healthcare is procured
by both government and private organisations (Australian Government Department of Health
2017).

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Source: Australian Government Department of Health 2017
There are numerous measures which are employed to ascertain the health condition of
a person or a group of population. Some of these common measures are life expectancy,
morbidity, mortality and disability-adjusted life year (DALY). Among morbidity there are
co-morbidity, incidence and prevalence.
Age
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2016, the average age of the
typical Australians varies across the states and territories, A typical Tasmanian is regarded as
oldest of all the Australians and the average age bracket is 42 while a typical Northern
Territorian is youngest among all the sub-groups of Australians with an average age group of
34 years. However, the average life lead by typical Australian aboriginals is significantly
lower than the leading population of Australia and thus representing a high discrepancy in
health or reflecting health inequality.

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This low age bracket of life expectancy among the Australians is attributed to high
rate of mental illness this mental and physical illnesses like cardiovascular disease,
respiratory disease and cancer. Public efforts should be undertaken in order to improve the
overall mental and physical health of the people in order to reduce the high rate of mortality
(Lawrence, Hancock and Kisely 2013).
Disability
Disability is a condition that restricts mental health of a person along with his or her
sensory and mobility functions. This disability may arise due to accidents, trauma, genetics or
other non-communicable disease. The disability can be permanent or temporary, lifelong or
acquired, invisible or visible, partial or total. As per the demographic report published by
Department of Social Service Australia (2017), 4 millions of people residing in Australia
suffer from certain disabilities. This indicates that one out of 3 people in Australia has
disability (Department of Social Service Australia 2017).
Apart from hampering the mental wellbeing of the person and his family member,
disability also has a huge impact on employment. According to Department of Social Service
Australia 2017, differently abled or disabled people who fall under the age bracket of 15 – 64
years, show low participation and higher unemployment rates in comparison to the people
without disability. This job related discrimination along with poor wages further increases the
rate of anxiety and depression disorders among the disable group of population (Department
of Social Service Australia 2017).
Behaviours of concern
Behaviours of concern is sometime known as challenging behaviours. The major
behaviour of concern among the person with mental disability is any kind of behaviour that

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causes stress, risk of self harm or harm to family members or their carers. The behaviour thus
demands proper consideration and investigation as it is regarded as the major hurdle towards
achieving best quality of life for the person who is suffering from mental health illness and
may impose as an occupational health along with safety concern for other staffs (Australian
Government 2017).
Employment
The unemployment rate in Australia has hit 5.9% in February in 2017. According to
the Australian Bureau of Statistics the total number of people with jobs has reduce by 6400.
Moreover, the workers who are employed are unwilling to work more hours. The high rate of
unemployment is affecting the Australian youth (Hutchens et al. 2017). Almost one-third of
young population of Australia are unemployed or underemployed (Davidson et al. 2017).
This high rate of unemployment is generating economic crisis and this economic
crisis is in turn resulting in high rate of suicidal incidences among the Australian youth. Apart
from suicidal attempts, these unemployed youths are getting victims of substance misuse due
to the lack of financial security and this is turn is leading towards chronic occurrence of
mental illness leading to depression and anxiety.
Answer 2
Domain selected: Mental health, alcohol and drug use and homelessness
Homelessness and consumption of alcohol or drug related mental health conditions
are considered as a separate service under Australian government. However, these three
pillars of Australian society are inter-related. According to the reports published by Flatau et
al. (2013), higher percentage of people who are homeless in Australia are supposed to suffer
from high degree of alcohol and drug abuse along with mental health complications like

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depression and anxiety. This depression and anxiety arise as a result of lack of financial
security and social exclusion arising out of homelessness. In order to fight against the
depression, they take help of intoxication and this come in the form of alcohol and drug
abuse. High rate of intoxication in turn increases the susceptibility of getting affected with
other mental health complications (Flatau et al. 2013).

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