The mental health inquiry was initiated by the Greens in July 2023 to hear from people with lived experience and people on the front lines of providing mental health care. The committee is chaired by Dr Amanda Cohn, Greens spokesperson for Health including Mental Health and former GP.

Out of the 39 recommendations in the final report, the government has supported 24, supported 8 in principle, and noted 7. We’ve broken the recommendations down into key areas below. You can head to the report itself to read the government’s reasons for why they have supported, supported in principle, or only noted recommendations.

Emergency response and emergency care

Recommendation 30 - That the NSW Police Force improve mandatory comprehensive mental health training currently provided to police officers in consultation with consumers and carers.
Position: noted

Recommendation 33 - That the NSW Government continue to explore the implementation of a health-led response to mental health emergencies, informed by the experiences of the successful South Australian Mental Health Co-Responder program, the Western Sydney Mental Health Acute Assessment Team and PACER, including informed risk assessment through access to medical records, as well as support for carers of the person experiencing crisis.
Position: Supported

Recommendation 31 - That in conjunction with NSW Health, NSW Police explore being activated as a secondary response to mental health emergencies only where required to support the safety of primary responders.
Position: Supported in principle

Recommendation 32 - That the NSW Police Force publicly release their report on the UK Right Care, Right Person model.
Position: Supported

Recommendation 34 - That in seeking to develop a new approach to responding to mental health crises, NSW Police Force, NSW Health and NSW Ambulance ensure that any review or new model be codesigned with consumers and carers.
Position: Supported

Recommendation 22 - That NSW Health support the additional provision of lower-stimulus and safer spaces within emergency departments for mental health assessment and care.
Position: Supported in principle

Recommendation 24 - That NSW Health look to improve both the experience of people with mental illness who present at an emergency department and emergency department staff, by providing additional mental health training for emergency department staff, in particular including suicide prevention.
Position: Supported

Recommendation 25 - That NSW Health improve the timely provision of discharge summaries for people leaving hospital after mental health related presentation or admission.
Position: Supported

Recommendation 27 - That NSW Health expand the Safe Haven program to be a 24/7 service where feasible, with a view of opening additional Safe Havens in high-need rural, regional and remote areas.
Position: Noted

Funding for the mental health system

Recommendation 19 - That the NSW Government immediately commit to increase and maintain funding across the entire mental health system to support both the workforce and consumers, with a priority investment in community-based mental health services.
Position: Noted

Recommendation 2 - That the NSW Government make representations to the Australian Government to address the gaps in funding and workforce for primary care and mental health services, including improved equitability of the Better Access scheme, and incentive schemes equivalent to those for procedural skills to better enable primary care services to support mental health.
Position: Supported

Recommendation 3 - That NSW Government ensure funding for carer education, supports and resources, including respite services.
Position: Supported in principle

Recommendation 6 - That the NSW Government, in providing grants to non-government organisations for mental health service provision, explore the inclusion of funding for the integration of programs within the sector and collaboration including information sharing with other providers.
Position: Supported in principle

Recommendation 20 - That the NSW Government explores the increase of funding cycles to five years, to support the growth and stability of the workforce and improve the consistency of care for consumers. All government funding is to be contingent on programs and services demonstrating that they meet agreed KPIs relating to mental health outcomes, that their program or service has met and engaged successfully with a consumer need, and that this need is ongoing.
Position: Supported

Recommendation 21 - That the NSW Government explore innovative revenue streams to fund mental health services.
Position: Noted

Recommendation 37 - That NSW Health adequately fund the digitisation of the records of the NSW Mental Health Review Tribunal to improve data access and analysis.
Position: Supported

Recommendation 13 - That the NSW Government urgently request the Federal Government provide HELP fee relief for mental health priority courses.
Position: Supported

Mental health workforce

Recommendation 10 - That NSW Government immediately increase pay for NSW public mental health clinicians including staff specialists, junior doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals to at a minimum on par with other states and territories, with consideration given to the number of staff lost to the private sector. Changes to pay grades for staff working in community mental health services should also take into account the level of expertise, further training, independent practice and risk associated with a role.
Position: Noted

Recommendation 12 - That NSW Health explore mechanisms to enable the greater application of therapeutic services and discipline specific expertise to ensure clinicians are working to the top of their scope of practice in order to provide safe, effective, patient-centred care including assertive outreach.
Position: Supported

Recommendation 11 - That NSW Health increase resourcing for formal clinical supervision for all clinicians providing mental health care in NSW Health, as well as General Practitioners with a high case load of mental health patients.
Position: Noted

Recommendation 14 - That the NSW Government provide fee free TAFE courses and qualifications in mental health care. The NSW Government facilitate relocation and housing for mental health care workers in the public system and address social and cultural barriers to relocation.
Position: Supported in principle

Recommendation 15 - That the NSW Government explore opportunities for integration between primary care and mental health services including embedding mental health clinicians within general practice.
Position: Supported

Recommendation 26 - That NSW Health ensure Local Health Districts support emergency department staff with specific localised information and referral pathways to community and outpatient mental health services and address current barriers to appropriate information sharing.
Position: Supported

Recommendation 18 - That the NSW Government look for ways to integrate peer workers into the broader mental health workforce, determine clear role definitions, framework and qualifications, and funding additional scholarship places for the Certificate IV qualification in Mental Health Peer Work.
Position: Supported

Recommendation 23 - That NSW Health examine opportunities for peer workers in emergency departments to support patients and staff.
Position: Supported

Other recommendations

Recommendation 4 - That the NSW Government ensure that the existing mental health service directories are widely publicised, updated every three months, and search engine optimised, as appropriate for the type of directory.
Position: Supported

Recommendation 8 - That the NSW Government look to initiatives that provide mental health care outside of traditional clinical settings, such as the Wellbeing and Health In-reach (WHIN) program, which assist target populations to access appropriate mental health services.
Position: Supported

Recommendation 9 - That the NSW Government consider establishing a centre of excellence for research, training, clinical supervision and support, in order to deliver specific evidence-based therapies in trauma informed care.
Position: Supported in principle

Recommendation 16 - That the NSW Government explore, with the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, the provision of any information necessary for the timely publication of data on mental health services at a national, State and Territory level, to help coordinate and develop the national mental health workforce.
Position: Supported

Recommendation 17 - That the NSW Government investigate and implement the best means for the collection of data on gender and sexuality to assist with service referral and planning.
Position: Supported

Recommendation 7 - That NSW Health improve access to mental health services by:
• Documenting care pathways for providers and making them visible to the community,
• Reviewing and refining eligibility and appropriateness criteria and making this information readily accessible,
• Redesigning service models to build more flexibility to meet diverse needs,
• Investing in navigational supports concentrated on support for priority populations.
Position: Supported

Recommendation 28 - That the NSW Government invest in the expansion of supported living services such as the Housing and Accommodation Support Initiative (HASI), Housing and Accommodation Support Initiative Plus (HASI+) and Pathways to Community Living Initiative (PCLI) programs.
Position: Supported in principle

Recommendation 29 - That the NSW Government return the mental health line to public operation in all Local Health Districts.
Position: Noted

Recommendation 1 - That the NSW Government undertake a whole of government reform approach to the mental health system, which addresses social and environmental determinants of health including housing, cost of living, transport, education, employment, climate change and impact of natural disasters.
Position: Supported

Recommendation 5 - That NSW Health enhance service and referral pathways and information sharing between State and Commonwealth Government agencies, non-government and community-managed organisations, and private health care services to facilitate better access, affordability, and navigation of services, and to look to expand the employment of peer navigators to strengthen service navigation.
Position: Supported

Recommendation 35 - That NSW Health increase support to patients and carers in the lead up to hearings before the Mental Health Review Tribunal.
Position: Supported

Recommendation 36 - That the NSW Government review the Mental Health Act 2007 with regard to community treatment orders and the overriding principal as least restrictive means of providing care.
Position: Supported in principle

Recommendation 38 - That NSW Health investigate the feasibility of implementing similar processes in NSW to improve the administrative processes of the Mental Health Review Tribunal and mental health agencies, including the development of digital orders and a document portal.
Position: Supported

Recommendation 39 - That NSW Health adequately resource community mental health services to assertively follow up patients on community treatment orders without involving police, unless their attendance is deemed essential following an informed risk assessment performed on a case-by-case basis.
Position: Supported