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The National Mental Health Commission’s chief executive has resigned after a review found the organisation had a poor workplace culture and was operating at a $6 million loss this year, prompting Health Minister Mark Butler to promise he would strengthen the agency as he embarks on broader reform of the system.
Butler instigated the review of the commission in April following media reports of bullying and dysfunction, including that the commission had sacked a quarter of its workforce in a month and was being separately investigated over its operations and financial decisions.
Health Minister Mark Butler promised to reset and strengthen the commission’s role after a review found it had outgrown its systems and capabilities.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
The review, which Butler received on July 31 and tabled in parliament last week, said the commission’s workforce and leadership were dedicated to their mission and there was no substantiated evidence of bad administration or bullying.
However, the review did find a poor workplace culture, significant budget operating losses and that the agency was operating above its funded staffing levels. It said the commission had “outgrown its existing systems, practices and capabilities”.
Butler said last week he had accepted the resignation earlier this month of chief executive Christine Morgan, who had led the commission since 2019, and thanked her for her service.
He promised to reset and strengthen the commission’s role, saying it was a vital public institution that needed to give unapologetic and independent advice about Australians’ mental health and wellbeing.
“The last few years, with unprecedented natural disasters, the COVID pandemic and increasing cost-of-living pressures, have further highlighted the importance of mental health and wellbeing across Australia,” Butler said.
“For this reason there has never been a more important time in our history to have a national mental health commission that is delivering for all Australians.”
It comes after the commission’s first chair, Professor Allan Fels, said earlier this year that the commission had lost the confidence of the sector and needed to be a separate statutory entity – outside the Health Department in which it currently sits – so it could properly scrutinise the government’s spending and actions on mental health.
As suicide rates remain high in Australia and the mental health system becomes increasingly inaccessible, the government has been pressured to step up its commitment to reform.
The chair of peak body Mental Health Australia, Matt Berriman, said last week government inaction was leaving millions of people struggling to get the support they needed, as research showed cost-of-living pressures were affecting the mental health of more than one in two Australians.
Afterwards, Butler told a gathering of dozens of sector representatives that mental health had been a priority for him his “entire working life” and flagged the government was working towards improving low-level digital supports, as well as bolstering services for people with complex needs.
He said the system needed to improve before more money was funnelled into it.
“I’m not going to advocate in government for more money to go into systems I’m not confident are fit-for-purpose,” he said, adding that he planned to outline his government’s plans for mental health reform by the end of the year.
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