Mental health services in Australia

Mental health services in Australia - in brief 2012 provides an overview of the national response to the mental health needs of Australians. It includes information on mental health service provision, available mental health resources and the changes that have occurred in these over time.

Estimates from the 2007 National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing (SMHWB) suggest that 7.3 million Australians (45% of the population aged 16–85) will experience a common mental disorder (a mood disorder, such as depression; anxiety or a substance use disorder) over their lifetime. Each year, 20% of the population in this age range, or 3 million Australians, are estimated to experience symptoms of a mental disorder. The second National Survey of People Living with Psychotic Illness conducted in March 2010 (Morgan et al. 2011) estimated that almost 64,000 people in Australia had a psychotic illness, most commonly schizophrenia, and were in contact with public specialised mental health services each year.