Submission to Senate Inquiry into the Provision of Mental Health Services in Australia

This submission will discuss the experiences of people with what will be defined as ‘serious mental illness’, that is, the spectrum of psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia, affective disorders such as bi-polar disorder and depression and severe and disabling anxiety disorders. Although representing a relatively small proportion of the population, the social, economic and personal disadvantages experienced by this group are multiple and extreme. The submission draws on the knowledge Anglicare has gathered from its experience as a service provider and its own research into the relationship between serious mental illness and poverty. Specific recommendations which emerge from Anglicare’s research are included.