The Mental Health Financial Safety Net: Unifying Australia's Fragmented Systems
A Report examining how Australia's 22 mental health funding supports can be unified to deliver more cohesive, equitable and timely care.
Millions of Australians experience mental ill-health each year. When they seek treatment, they navigate a complex web of funding supports — but does this system work as well as it could?
In The Mental Health Financial Safety Net: Unifying Australia's Fragmented Systems, the Actuaries Institute examines Australia's mental health funding landscape and how it can be strengthened to better support those who need it most.
Our recommendations involve short-term investment to rebalance funding responsibilities, expand the safety net, and enhance its long-term sustainability. Without reform, the strain on people and systems will almost certainly worsen.
— Cindy Lau, one of the lead authors of the Report.
In brief:
- Australia's mental health financial safety net is extensive but fragmented. This Report identifies 22 funding supports that help Australians access mental health treatment. Funding across these supports conservatively exceeds $18.5 billion per year, of which insurance provides nearly $4 billion annually.
- Rising demand is exposing structural weaknesses across the system — from inconsistent access and affordability to duplication, regulatory misalignment and unmet need.
- Eight recommendations to strengthen the safety net include a whole-of-system priority investment approach, a national mental health data strategy, more effective and targeted affordability relief, and redesigning insurance products to better meet consumer needs.
- A comprehensive resource for system reform. Developed with KPMG in conjunction with the Actuaries Institute, and guided by external mental health experts, this Report provides policymakers, health professionals and insurers with evidence-based recommendations to improve outcomes for for the millions of Australians seeking mental health care each year.
Join the conversation
Wednesday 5 November
Hear directly from the Report's lead authors as they discuss the key challenges and recommend actionable ways to strengthen the system — highlighting how actuaries can design equitable and sustainable schemes that truly protect those who need support to cope, adapt and recover.
The fragmented coordination of mental health funding and service delivery is failing too many Australians. Addressing this challenge requires collective action. This Report puts forward recommendations to create a more integrated and sustainable system that strengthens support for those who need it.
— Elayne Grace, Actuaries Institute CEO
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