Recommendation 8

What the Royal Commission said

The Royal Commission recommends that the Victorian Government:

1. ensure each Adult and Older Adult Area Mental Health and Wellbeing Service delivers a centrally coordinated 24-hours-a-day telephone/telehealth crisis response service accessible to both service providers and to members of the community of all ages that provides:
   a. crisis assessment and immediate support;
   b. mobilisation of a crisis outreach team or emergency service response where necessary; and
   c. referral for follow-up by mental health and wellbeing services and/or other appropriate services.
2. expand crisis outreach services in each Adult and Older Adult Area Mental Health and Wellbeing Service to provide treatment, care and support from a clinician and non-clinical worker such as a peer worker.
3. improve emergency departments’ ability to respond to mental health crises by:
   a. establishing a classification framework for all emergency departments and urgent care centres, based on their capability to respond to people experiencing mental health crises;
   b. using the classification framework to ensure that health services are appropriately resourced to perform their role in a regional network of emergency departments and urgent care centres; and
   c. ensuring there is at least one highest-level emergency department suitable for mental health and alcohol and other drug treatment in each region.

Update

Information about this recommendation is being updated.

Please check back here for information updates.

The Victorian Government has committed to implementing all recommendations of the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System. Rebuilding Victoria’s mental health system is a 10-year reform plan, with implementation being done in a staged and sequential way. The 2021-22 Victorian State Budget invested $3.8 billion in mental health and wellbeing services and responding to the Royal Commission’s recommendations.

All work is focused on ensuring Victorians get the mental health treatment, care, and support they deserve.