; o Minister for Health and ea Minister for Ambulance Services
goenmet Member for Woodridge
1 William Street Brisbane 4000
GPO Box 48 Brisbane
Queensland 4001 Australia
Telephone +61 7 3035 6100
Ml214757 Email health@ministerial.qld.gov.au
Website www. health.qld.gov.au
Ms Liz Crowther 18 APR 2017
President
Community Mental Health Australia
Room 1.06, Level 1, Griffin Centre
20 Genge Street
CANBERRA CITY ACT 2601
Dear Ms Crowther
Thank you for your letter dated 22 December 2016, requesting information on Queensland Health’s funding commitments to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and community managed mental health services.
| appreciate you taking the time to share the work Community Mental Health Australia is currently
undertaking. It is reassuring to know that organisations such as yours and the mental health peak bodies across Australia, are vitally engaged in the implementation and roll out of the NDIS.
Queensland Health has been preparing for the NDIS since 2012, and in 2013 the Department identified its contribution to the NDIS to ensure psychosocial supports are available to participants of the Scheme. The Housing and Support Program (HASP) program was accepted as an NDIS approved defined program in September 2016, and all existing HASP clients are considered to have met disability eligibility for the NDIS. By 2019-2020, the Department will have cashed out to the NDIS the total funding allocated to the HASP. Clients of the HASP program who do not meet the NDIS age or residence eligibility requirements will continue to be supported by Queensland Health as required by the continuity of support arrangements under the Bilateral Agreement.
| share your concern regarding the continued need for people who are not eligible for the NDIS to
access mental health services, which must be part of a continuum of support for people living with a mental illness. Queensland Health will continue to provide a range of mental health services across the continuum of care, including community mental health services to benefit mental health patients who are not eligible for the NDIS.
Please be assured that Queensland Health has arrangements in place to ensure that Department of Health funded community managed mental health services will be supported throughout the transition to the NDIS.
You will no doubt be aware that on 10 October 2016 | released Connecting Care to Recovery
2016-2021 — A Plan for Queensland’s State Funded mental health, alcohol and other drug services. The plan guides an investment of $350 million over five years to support Queenslanders living with mental health, alcohol and drug issues. This includes new investment for initiatives to be delivered through community managed and non-government services. As you may appreciate, providing you with future funding commitments is not possible at this stage as many of the initiatives are still to be commissioned.
Thank you again for bringing this matter to my attention. Should you require any further information
in relation to this matter, | have arranged for Ms Sandra Eyre, Director, Mental Health Alcohol and
Other Drugs Branch, Department of Health, _ to be available to assist you.
Yours sincerely