Submission to NACMH on mental illness and income adequacy

This submission is based on the Anglicare research report Thin Ice, about the experience of people with serious mental illnesses, and on Hard Times, a survey of emergency relief and financial counselling clients in Tasmania. This survey suggested that people affected by mental illness face a very high level of chronic financial hardship. It is Anglicare’s view that all income support payments in Australia need to be increased to a level sufficient to provide a basic, acceptable standard of living. Nor should income management substitute for genuine action to address income adequacy.