Australia’s mental health and elderly care system receives record funding on a federal budget and spends billions of dollars on the sick sector.
Experts warned that packages may only begin to recover after years of lack of funding.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg handed over his third budget on May 11, and is expected to spend a lot of money on government services as a whole.
Spending will be in parallel with funding major infrastructure projects, skills training, and COVID-19 health care.
“Tonight’s budget expects record-breaking efforts in basic services, disability support, mental health, elderly care and women’s safety,” Frydenberg told Canberra reporters.
“And tonight budget It will present the Morrison Government’s economic plan to ensure Australia’s recovery. “
An additional $ 500 million is expected to be invested in the mental health sector each year, most of which is provided through the federal primary health network.
The funding aims to serve areas with very high and underprivileged mental health needs, as well as areas most hostile to fires, floods, COVID-19 restrictions and high youth unemployment. I will.
Christine Morgan, chief executive officer of the National Mental Health Commission, who is Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s suicide prevention adviser, said early intervention, service integration and access are important.
“We need to be able to intervene in illness, episodes, and quite early in life,” she told ABC Radio.
Leading psychiatrist Patrick McGorry said the federal government spends $ 3.6 billion annually on issues affecting 5 million Australians each year.
“No government in the world understands the scale of this problem.”
The budget is expected to include up to $ 18 billion in additional funding for elderly care over the next four years.
Health Minister Greg Hunt said it would be a basic line in the sand after the Royal Commission’s report called for drastic changes to the entire system.
The main goals of this package include building a higher-paying workforce and strengthening training, as well as more funding reserved to support the training of the unemployed.
Frydenberg will announce a $ 1 billion extension of the Job Trainer program. This program offers free or low-cost courses to young people and the unemployed.
Budgets can also put young Australians at risk of taking training programs and losing income support through programs such as youth allowances.
The government is also preparing to cancel the unexploded ordnance employment credit system for young people. It helped 1,100 of the 450,000 jobs the government tried to create.
Accounting spends an additional $ 500 million to acquire international business and talent.
This challenge is difficult because the borders remain closed, but the government is determined to attract the best and brightest people to drive economic recovery.
This package includes plans to encourage employee ownership and simplify resident rules when attracting workers and businesses to Australia.
Low-income earners, many of whom are women, will receive a compulsory old-age pension for the first time in their lives.
Labor leader Anthony Albanese has criticized the government for having no plans to deal with record low wage growth, unemployment and underemployment.
Albanese said the coalition has pushed the country’s debt to $ 1 trillion and lacks an economic vision.
The government will also announce key funding for women’s health and economic security packages, including funding for domestic violence doubling to $ 680 million and $ 354 million over four years.