Mental health chief resigns over government 'inaction'

A mental health leader says the government is not doing enough to help those in need.

The head of Australia’s peak mental health body has resigned over what he labelled the Albanese government’s inaction following decades of underfunding and inattention. Matt Berriman’s resignation comes a little more than a week after a 40-year-old man with mental health problems attacked shoppers in Sydney killing six people, mostly women, with some critics saying the man fell between gaps in the system.

Mental health services have been struggling to cope with demand after the pandemic forced many into long isolation periods that harmed their wellbeing.

A former professional cricketer and businessman Mr Berriman was appointed to Mental Health Australia’s top role in December 2021, but has quit in protest because he said not enough was being done.

“I don’t think over the last 20 years mental health has been addressed in this country and the Labor government promised that was going to happen and it hasn’t,” he told the ABC.

Just days after the Sydney massacre, a 16-year-old boy – also believed to have mental illness – allegedly carried out a stabbing assault on a bishop at the church in Sydney.

Mr Berriman took aim at the government’s approach to mental health, saying it was inadequately funded and was not given the attention it deserved.

Health Minister Mark Butler said the government would continue to work closely with the sector and reform wouldn’t happen overnight.

Mental Health Australia said it was with “sadness” it announced Mr Berriman’s resignation which was effective immediately.

“I remain driven by a desire to ensure that one day equitable and easy access to good mental health support and services will be considered an unquestionable basic human right, and an integral part of how our society functions,” he said.