Australia could have a new mental health tax or a rise in the Medicare levy to pay for sweeping reform to the sector, under a new plan proposed by the Victorian government.
Australia could have a new mental health tax or a rise in the Medicare levy to pay for the massive costs of sweeping reform to the neglected sector under a new plan proposed by the Victorian government.The idea of using a higher Medicare levy or a whole new federal tax has been raised at meetings between Victoria and the Commonwealth as the two governments discuss their response to the mental health crisis.
WorkSafe says one in five Victorian workers will suffer a mental injury in their job each year, a figure described as “staggering” by the state's Mental Health Minister Martin Foley on Sunday.Victoria has announced a massive program of reform of its mental health system recommended by its Australia-first royal commission into the issue, but has yet to reveal the new ‘revenue stream’ that is to raise up to $1 billion a year to pay for Labor’s ambitious reform agenda.
Victoria's Mental Health Minister Martin Foley said"the cost of inaction isn’t just measured in dollars − all too often it’s measured in human lives".The Morrison government has ambitions of its own for mental health, with a report in production on how to reduce the nation’s soaring suicide rate and the Productivity Commission working on the second stage of its own inquiry into the national system.
The Victorians say their own plans require a huge amount of input from the federal government, which has responsibility for much of the primary health care system including GPs, Medicare, the public health networks and the National Disability Insurance Scheme.In Victoria’s Productivity Commission inquiry submission, to be published on Monday, the state urges the federal government to consider a dedicated mental health revenue-raiser.
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