The ALIVE National Centre calls for the government to reform Australia’s mental health and wellbeing policies
The ALIVE National Centre for Mental Health Research Translation demands changes be made to the Federal Government’s National Wellbeing Framework “Measuring What Matters” to ensure vulnerable populations are included in the metrics.
Over 130 people attended the ALIVE National Mental Health Symposium at Old Parliament House, Canberra from 14-16 March, 2024. During the conference, attendees were asked to consider the Federal Government’s new National Wellbeing Framework called “Measuring What Matters (MWM)” and determine whether it did actually measure what mattered to them.
The consensus was that the MWM Framework was clearly lacking when it came to measuring what mattered to vulnerable populations, such as the LGBTQIA+ community and First Nations and Torres Strait Islander people. A Call to Action was created asking the government to [re]form national mental health and wellbeing and consider the implications of this for the MWM Framework.
Following the symposium, ALIVE National Centre Co-Director, Professor Victoria Palmer met with journalist, Harriet Grayson from Health Services Daily to unpack some of the issues raised.
According to Professor Palmer, the MWM Framework uses data from existing datasets to formulate the key priorities for measuring the wellbeing of Australians. She says when new policies rely on existing datasets, it is important to acknowledge who is NOT being counted and take note of the methods being used to measure what matters.
“By continuing to measure what is already there, we risk overlooking vulnerable populations like the LGBTQIA+ community as well as the First Nations and Torres Strait Islander people,” said Professor Palmer.
One of the main problems with the new MWM Framework is that rather than addressing the disparities in mental health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, it relegates the issue back to existing policies such as “Closing the Gap”, which have already fallen behind.
“Our First Nation communities, who are the leaders in wellbeing, are not being heard... it’s a huge, missed opportunity.” she said.
Professor Palmer says improved funding and resourcing is needed to build relational mental health systems that deliver holistic, trauma-informed models of care. And that rather than scaling up, we should be focusing on scaling across and connecting the things that already exist.
It’s about capacity building and community action at a localised level. That’s where you see the real change happening.
This interview was originally published by Health Services Daily and has been summarised with permission. Read the full article here: