By Gabriella Payne
Victorians across the state who are experiencing mental illness, including residents of the Cardinia Shire, will be given better access to services, support and care in their local communities in light of the findings being released from the first ever Royal Commission into the Victorian Mental Health System.
The final report was released on Wednesday 3 March and with 65 recommendations for change proposed, it seems a total overhaul of the system is on the cards.
The State Government is hoping to implement all of the report’s recommendations, stating that the current system had many failures that had allowed people to slip through the cracks, sadly costing some people their lives.
Cardinia Councillor Carol Ryan has worked in the medical profession for over 40 years, with most of that specialising in mental health, disability and aged care.
Councillor Ryan has long been an advocate for improving mental health services in the Cardinia region and welcomed the findings of this Royal Commission.
“I’m so pleased that there has been a Royal Commission into adult mental health, this has been a long time coming,” Councillor Ryan said.
“The biggest stigma is that mental health has been around since the 1800’s and it’s nothing new.
We have had a chance to reform it year after year, but it’s taken Covid to actually do this Royal Commission – and that’s very sad,” she said.
Councillor Ryan said that she has been a longtime advocate for mental health reform and hopes to see some real changes implemented in the Cardinia Shire to improve services for residents.
“I’ve been advocating for improved mental health services here for a long time and I think that it’s great that we will be looking into it more now.
We need accessibility, we need affordability and we need it in Pakenham so it can service places like Nar Nar Goon, Lang Lang, even as far as Drouin,” she said.
“When you look at ourselves and Drouin, there’s nothing in between – so hopefully things are on the rise very soon.”
Councillor Ryan said that the Cardinia Shire Council were already making strides towards improving mental health services in the area, through a Mental Health and Wellbeing Leadership Group that she is a part of, which meets frequently and helped make a submission to the Royal Commission.
Councillor Ryan said that it would be “a welcome addition” to gain some funding towards improved mental health services and that she would continue advocating and “working hard to get services” for the local community.
