Mental health carers are hoping a new investment for early intervention in Ballarat will help reduce the burden on those who have missed out on NDIS funding.
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The state government has announced $2.3 million over two years for Ballarat Health Services (BHS), to provide mental health support for those not covered by the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
The program will begin at the end of May across Ballarat and the Wimmera, in conjunction with Uniting Ballarat. Around 105 people are expected to be part of the program, where they will receive one-on-one support including cognitive behaviour therapy, mindfulness, social interaction and inclusion.
The funding is part of a $50 million Early Intervention Psychosocial Support Response package, which was announced last year and has been shared across 16 different health systems in Victoria.
BHS mental health carer and consultant Rohan Souter said there were "many adjustments and improvements" which could be made in the mental health system in Victoria.
He said "upstream thinking" and supporting people before they become seriously mentally unwell was a necessary shift.
"There's a lot of overcrowding and overburden in acute services in our emergency department as a result of, I think, thinking that does not look further back at the person's life in the community and where its of meaning to them," he said.
"There are some gaps created by the NDIS, and the inherent gap that exists between an emphasis for carers and consumers to be proving that there's a permanent disability, when our focus in mental health is on recovery.
"There's a clash there, and unfortunately many carers I speak to feel since the NDIS has come into place, they're worse off than they were before. Really looking forward to that being addressed and changing."
While Ballarat had been chosen in the tender process in recent months, Victorian Minister for Mental Health Martin Foley denied the timing of the NDIS announcement less than two weeks before the federal election was politically motivated.
"Whether it's to get a job, whether it's to maintain a house, whether it's to keep their family together. Whatever is the needs that particular circumstances, so people with enduring mental illness can have the promise of an ordinary life, is what this program is about."
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