Community
23 April, 2025
Not enough, Dyson says
INDEPENDENT candidate for Wannon Alex Dyson has welcomed the Labor Party’s promise to invest $1 billion into mental healthcare but says dedicated help is still urgently needed to address the limited services and poor mental health outcomes experienced in regional communities.
Labor’s announcement follows the Coalition’s commitments to double the number of mental health care visits funded by Medicare and invest $400 million into youth mental health services.
“Improving regional healthcare services, including mental health support, has been a key priority raised with me by people across Wannon,” Mr Dyson said.
“While I welcome both major party commitments to increasing national mental health funding, neither party is offering the specific support that our regional communities so urgently need.
“Evidence shows that while the rate of mental health illness is similar between cities and the regions, access to mental health services is substantially more limited, with rates of self-harm and suicide increasing with remoteness.
“Farmers are also twice as likely to die of suicide compared to the average Australian, with a farmer dying by suicide every 10 days.
“If elected, I would fight for regional mental health needs to be given specific funding in the government's overall mental health budget, including the $50m Agriculture Mental Health Plan recently called for by over 30 Australian rural and healthcare organisations.”
Mr Dyson said, if elected, he will take the needs of regional communities to Canberra and work with whoever is in government to secure dedicated regional mental health investment.
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